ArticleContemporary educational psychology2020
Taking the Relational Structure of Fractions Seriously: Relational Reasoning Predicts Fraction Knowledge in Elementary School Children.
Article in Contemporary educational psychology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rational numbers: A systematic review and ALE meta-analysis of the neuroimaging of fraction and decimal processing in the brain.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2026Pooled it
- Tracking fraction knowledge development using grade-appropriate assessments.Journal of experimental child psychology · 2026Article
- Predicting individual differences in preschoolers' numeracy and geometry knowledge: The role of understanding abstract relations between objects and quantities.Journal of experimental child psychology · 2024Article
- The effect of structured stepwise presentations on students' fraction learning: an eye-tracking study.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- The role of executive function abilities in interleaved vs. blocked learning of science concepts.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Understanding and using symbolic fractions in mathematics is critical for access to advanced STEM concepts. However, children and adults consistently struggle with fractions. Here, we take a novel perspective on symbolic fractions, considering them within the framework of relational structures in cognitive psychology, such as those studied in analogy research. We tested the hypothesis that relational reasoning ability is important for reasoning about fractions by examining the relation between scores on a domain-general test of relational reasoning (TORR Jr.) and a test of fraction knowledge consisting of various types of fraction problems in 194 second grade and 145 fifth grade students. We found that relational reasoning was a significant predictor of fractions knowledge, even when controlling for non-verbal IQ and fractions magnitude processing for both grades. The effects of relational reasoning also remained significant when controlling for overall mathematics knowledge and skill for second graders but was attenuated for fifth graders. These findings suggest that this important subdomain of mathematical cognition is integrally tied to relational reasoning and opens the possibility that instruction targeting relational reasoning may prove to be a viable avenue for improving children's fractions skills.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.