Researchers at Monash University have shown that people perceive numbers better when numbers are written top to bottom rather than left to right. The results of the study are presented below: PLOS ONE.
The order of numbers written horizontally from smallest to largest is called the “mental number line”. Research shows that people tend to place larger numbers to the right and smaller numbers to the left. But scientists pay little attention to whether this mental line is horizontal.
To test how fast people could process numbers with different representations, the researchers showed 73 second-graders pairs of numbers from 1 to 9 on a monitor. Participants were asked to enter a higher number using a high-performance, zero-latency game joystick.
It turned out that participants compared numbers faster when their numbers were divided vertically, with the smaller number at the bottom. This may indicate that our mental number line actually goes from the bottom up, from small numbers to large numbers.
The work of scientists can be important to designers and engineers who design environments that require quick decision-making. In fact, numbers are often displayed vertically in airplane cockpits and stock markets already. Perhaps their findings will help improve the effectiveness of early education.