Adults think of fractions and whole numbers spatially

What is it about?

Research has shown that thinking of numbers spatially, like on a mental number line, is important for success with mathematics. Fractions are a class of numbers with which many people struggle. In a series of experiments, we tested whether people think of fractions spatially. When adults were presented with a wide range of fractions, they responded faster to smaller numbers on the left and larger numbers on the right, suggesting they do think of fractions spatially. We also showed that this was consistent with how people think of whole numbers.

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Why is it important?

This work completely reverses results from a previous study, which suggested that people only think of the parts of a fraction spatially, but not the whole fraction value. This might with our understanding of why some people struggle to understand fractions, as well as methods to help. For example, teaching fractions using number lines might be one useful strategy.