Date of Award:

8-2025

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Psychology

Committee Chair(s)

Kerry E. Jordan

Committee

Kerry E. Jordan

Committee

Jessica Shumway

Committee

Mona Buhusi

Committee

Ron Gillam

Committee

Beth L. MacDonald

Abstract

The Mayan numerical system, used by the ancient Maya people, is very different from the Western Arabic numerical system. Instead of being based on 10, it's based on 20, and it uses dots and bars instead of the numbers 0 through 9. This study explored how people learn and understand Mayan numbers.

Participants took a 2.5-hour online course to learn Mayan numerals and number words. They were tested to see how quickly and accurately they could recognize and compare Mayan numerals. The results showed that people can learn the Mayan number system and use it automatically.

The study also looked at how people perceive the size of Mayan numbers and the direction that they’re read. People in this study associated small numbers with the top and large numbers with the bottom.

Overall, this research shows that learning the Mayan number system can change how we think about numbers and that our perception of numerical size may be influenced by how we interact with numbers.

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