Modifying Cognitive Strategies for Comparing Proportions

Changing Quantitative Reasoning Across Development

Status

Enrolling by invitation

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT06635577

Enrollment

300

Registered

2024-10-10

Start date

2024-10-21

Completion date

2026-10-01

Last updated

2026-02-20

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Proportional Reasoning

Keywords

proportions, mathematical concepts, strategy use

Brief summary

The goal of this study is to understand the cognitive processes underlying quantitative and relational reasoning, including the understanding of mathematical information (e.g., numbers, proportions, percentages, geometry) and related relational concepts (e.g., analogies, the concepts same/different), as well as how people's reasoning can be changed by external factors. The main question it aims to answer is: How does the introduction of a secondary task affect the behavior of children and adults when reasoning about proportions in different formats? Participants will be asked to make judgements about images with and without the presence of a distractor task.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALVerbal Interference Task

During the second half of the study, participants will undergo an interference task such as repetition of the word "the"; or shadowing a radio broadcast in order to increase cognitive load and disrupt the use of a mental workspace.

Study design

Allocation

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

7 Years to 64 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Typically developing people within the target age range (either 8-years-old OR 18- to 64-years-old) for the study version

Exclusion criteria

* Individuals with known developmental or cognitive disorders * Participants or parents of participants must speak/read sufficient English to read and complete the informed consent document

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Overall Performance	After enrollment in a single study session	A proportion correct will be calculated, with a score closer to 1 indicating more questions answered correctly. Reaction time will also be tracked, with a faster reaction time indicating ease and/or efficiency with the task.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 21, 2026