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Children's arithmetic development: It is number knowledge, not the approximate number sense, that counts
Göbel, Silke M. Watson, Sarah E. Lervåg, Arne Hulme, Charles
Göbel, Silke M.
Watson, Sarah E.
Lervåg, Arne
Hulme, Charles
Abstract
In this article, we present the results of an 11-month longitudinal study (beginning when children were 6 years old) focusing on measures of the approximate number sense (ANS) and knowledge of the Arabic numeral system as possible influences on the development of arithmetic skills. Multiple measures of symbolic and nonsymbolic magnitude judgment were shown to define a unitary factor that appears to index the efficiency of an ANS system, which is a strong longitudinal correlate of arithmetic skills. However, path models revealed that knowledge of Arabic numerals at 6 years was a powerful longitudinal predictor of the growth in arithmetic skills, whereas variations in magnitude-comparison ability played no additional role in predicting variations in arithmetic skills. These results suggest that verbal processes concerned with learning the labels for Arabic numerals, and the ability to translate between Arabic numerals and verbal codes, place critical constraints on arithmetic development.
Keywords
cognitive development, numerical development, arithmetic, approximate number sense, symbolic number processing, academic achievement, cognitive neuroscience, mathematical ability, mathematics achievement, number comprehension
Date
2014
Type
Journal article
Journal
Psychological Science
Book
Volume
25
Issue
3
Page Range
789-798
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education (ILSTE)
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled