%0 Journal Article %A Inglis, Matthew %A Mejia-Ramos, Juan P. %D 2011 %T On the persuasiveness of visual arguments in mathematics %U https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/On_the_persuasiveness_of_visual_arguments_in_mathematics/9368063 %2 https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/ndownloader/files/16978514 %K Belief %K Conviction %K Experimental methods %K Persuasion %K Visual arguments %X Two experiments are reported which investigate the factors that influence how persuaded mathematicians are by visual arguments. We demonstrate that if a visual argument is accompanied by a passage of text which describes the image, both research-active mathematicians and successful undergraduate mathematics students perceive it to be significantly more persuasive than if no text is given. We suggest that mathematicians’ epistemological concerns about supporting a claim using visual images are less prominent when the image is described in words. Finally we suggest that empirical studies can make a useful contribution to our understanding of mathematical practice. %I Loughborough University