Graduate students and postdocs are invited to join the speaker for lunch after the seminar. Space is limited – to sign up, email: pennmindcore@sas.upenn.edu

Percival Matthews
Department of Educational Psychology
University of Wisconsin – Madison

Are Fractions Natural Numbers Too?  Features and Implications of Ratio Processing Capacities

Some contemporary theories of numerical cognition posit that a generalized magnitude system may serve as a core primitive foundation for building number concepts. To date, however, these theories have largely privileged whole numbers and whole number analogs, relegating rational numbers to the background. In this talk, I will propose that paying more explicit attention to nonsymbolic ratio perception may account for the deep connections between whole numbers and other classes of number, all while connecting numerical cognition to a broader psychophysical apparatus. Moreover, foregrounding nonsymbolic ratio perception may have unexpected implications for connecting the origins of numerical cognition to the same systems that undergird skills such as shape recognition and spatial navigation.

A pizza lunch will be served. Please bring your own beverage.

We will also stream this seminar via Zoom.
For the link, please email: pennmindcore@sas.upenn.edu