Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42347792›Full record

ArticleDevelopmental psychology2026

Nonsymbolic ratio and fraction magnitude processing predict fraction knowledge in early grades.

Isabella Starling-Alves, Percival G Matthews, Edward M Hubbard

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Developmental psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Isabella Starling-AlvesDepartment of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.ORCID 0000-0002-4781-2706
Percival G MatthewsDepartment of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.ORCID 0000-0001-6265-813X
Edward M HubbardDepartment of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.ORCID 0000-0002-2701-415X

Funding

Perceptual and Cognitive Mechanisms of Developing Fractions Knowledge: A Cross-Sequential ApproachR01HD088585 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI HUBBARD, EDWARD MICHAEL, MATTHEWS, PERCIVAL GRANT · 2016 to 2020
$1.9M
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível SuperiorEunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human DevelopmentNICHD NIH HHS R01 HD088585Waisman Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Understanding the emergence of symbolic math skills during education is important for both theoretical and applied reasons. Here, we specifically focus on the emergence of children's understanding of fractions, a particularly challenging symbolic math skill. Previous studies have demonstrated associations between nonsymbolic ratio perception and formal fraction skills. However, most of those studies measured only concurrent correlations and could not chart development prior to and after formal fraction education. To investigate the emergence of relations between ratio perception and formal math skills, we examined which set of skills prospectively predicted growth in second and fifth graders' fraction skills 1 year later. Results showed longitudinal improvements in fraction knowledge in both groups, with more significant gains occurring earlier in development. A cluster analysis categorized both younger and older participants into two clusters across grades: consistently lower and higher fraction knowledge. Fraction magnitude processing, along with its connections to nonsymbolic ratios, predicted fraction knowledge in both age groups; however, nonsymbolic ratio magnitude processing predicted fraction knowledge only for the younger participants, even when controlling for domain-general factors. Furthermore, nonsymbolic ratio magnitude processing, fraction magnitude processing, and their interrelations differed across clusters of younger participants, whereas nonsymbolic ratio magnitude processing did not differ across clusters of older participants. These findings indicate that nonsymbolic ratio magnitude processing is associated with early acquisition of fraction knowledge, but that understanding magnitudes of symbolic fractions becomes more relevant for fraction knowledge over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Identifiers

PMID42347792
PMCPMC13326707

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.