Strategy use on the number line task analyzed with eye-tracking

The number line task is used to measure the ability to match number symbols to non-symbolic values or quantities. In addition to performance measures (mean percent absolute error or R-2), a number of researchers has investigated the eye-movements that children make while deciding where to place a number on the number line in order to map out their strategy use. In this study, we tracked the eye-movements of children with and without dyscalculia while they were doing the number line task. The fixations of the children were related to the correct response and the actual response at the item level. We showed that there were clear individual differences in the strategies that children use. As expected, the children with dyscalculia scored lower on the performance measures than the control children. Additionally, the looking behavior of the child with the most severe mathematics problems also deviated most from the looking behavior of the control children. This study shows that mapping out the fixations of children during the number line task in great detail can help to determine which strategies children use when placing numbers on the number line.