Using Nonsymbolic Ratios to Promote Fraction Knowledge: A Neurocognitive Approach

这个项目将由威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的研究人员进行，将研究大学生和八年级学生的分数知识。该项目将使用行为和大脑成像测量方法。主要的假设是，某些视觉知觉能力(如对两条线的长度之比的敏感度)与分数理解有关。该项目将开发一种旨在提高分数知识的培训方法。该项目将推进REAL(教育与学习研究)项目在研究STEM(科学、技术、工程和数学)学习的认知和神经基础方面的工作。该项目将使用fMRI(功能磁共振成像)来研究大脑活动，重点是大脑区域，包括PFC(前额叶皮质)和IPS(顶内沟)。特别是，这项研究将使用一种适应方法，当一个新的比率以一系列比率呈现时，观察激活恢复。该项目探讨了分数大小加工的认知基元解释，认为对非符号比率大小的知觉敏感性在支持对符号分数大小的发展理解中起着重要作用。这一解释意味着，在学习者接受分数教学之前，已经调整到处理非符号比率的神经认知结构--例如两条线的相对长度或两个图形的相对面积--就已经存在了。

This project, to be conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, will study knowledge of fractions in college students and eighth-graders. The project will use behavioral and brain imaging measures. The main hypothesis is that some kinds of visual perception ability (such as sensitivity to the ratio formed by the lengths of two lines) are related to fraction understanding. The project will develop a training method aimed at improving knowledge about fractions. This project will advance the work of the REAL (Research on Education and Learning) program in studying the cognitive and neural basis of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning.The project will use fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to study brain activity, focusing on brain regions including the PFC (prefrontal cortex) and IPS (intraparietal sulcus). In particular, the research will use an adaptation method, looking at activation recovery when a novel ratio is presented in a series of ratios. The project addresses a cognitive primitives account of fraction magnitude processing, which posits that perceptual sensitivity to nonsymbolic ratio magnitudes plays a major role in supporting the developing understanding of symbolic fraction magnitudes. This account implies that neurocognitive architectures tuned to the processing of non-symbolic ratio--such as the relative lengths of two lines or the relative areas of two figures--are present even before learners receive fractions instruction.