Symbolic and Non-symbolic Predictors of Number Line Task in Italian Kindergarteners

Overview

Journal Front Psychol

Date 2023 May 19

PMID 37205065

Authors

Carla Meloni

Franco Delogu

Rachele Fanari

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The number line estimation task (NLE) is often used as a predictor for broader measures of mathematical achievement. In spite of its popularity, it is still not clear whether the task is based on symbolic or non-symbolic numerical competence. In particular, there is only a very limited amount of studies investigating the relationship between NLE performance and symbolic vs. non-symbolic math skills in children who have not yet begun formal schooling. This study investigates the strength of the association between NLE performance and symbolic and non-symbolic tasks in young kindergarteners. Ninety two 5-year-old children completed the NLE task (range 0-100) and a battery of early numerical competence tests including symbolic-lexical tasks, symbolic semantic tasks, and non-symbolic semantic tasks. The relationship between symbolic and non-symbolic early numerical competence and NLE performance was analyzed using a regression model based on the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). Results show that only symbolic semantic tasks are significant predictors of NLE performance. These results suggest that symbolic numerical knowledge is involved in number line processing among young children, whilst non-symbolic knowledge is not. This finding brings new data to the debate on the relationship between non-symbolic numeral knowledge and symbolic number processing and supports the evidence of a primary role of symbolic number processing already in young kindergarteners.

References

Wilson A, Revkin S, Cohen D, Cohen L, Dehaene S . An open trial assessment of "The Number Race", an adaptive computer game for remediation of dyscalculia. Behav Brain Funct. 2006; 2:20. PMC: 1523349. DOI: 10.1186/1744-9081-2-20. View

Dehaene S . Varieties of numerical abilities. Cognition. 1992; 44(1-2):1-42. DOI: 10.1016/0010-0277(92)90049-n. View

Booth J, Siegler R . Numerical magnitude representations influence arithmetic learning. Child Dev. 2008; 79(4):1016-31. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01173.x. View

Rousselle L, Noel M . Basic numerical skills in children with mathematics learning disabilities: a comparison of symbolic vs non-symbolic number magnitude processing. Cognition. 2006; 102(3):361-95. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2006.01.005. View

Xenidou-Dervou I, Gilmore C, van der Schoot M, van Lieshout E . The developmental onset of symbolic approximation: beyond nonsymbolic representations, the language of numbers matters. Front Psychol. 2015; 6:487. PMC: 4413728. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00487. View

Kruschke J, Liddell T . The Bayesian New Statistics: Hypothesis testing, estimation, meta-analysis, and power analysis from a Bayesian perspective. Psychon Bull Rev. 2017; 25(1):178-206. DOI: 10.3758/s13423-016-1221-4. View

Nuraydin S, Stricker J, Ugen S, Martin R, Schneider M . The number line estimation task is a valid tool for assessing mathematical achievement: A population-level study with 6484 Luxembourgish ninth-graders. J Exp Child Psychol. 2022; 225:105521. DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105521. View

Siegler R, Booth J . Development of numerical estimation in young children. Child Dev. 2004; 75(2):428-44. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00684.x. View

Gunderson E, Ramirez G, Beilock S, Levine S . The relation between spatial skill and early number knowledge: the role of the linear number line. Dev Psychol. 2012; 48(5):1229-41. PMC: 10811729. DOI: 10.1037/a0027433. View

10.

Schneider M, Merz S, Stricker J, De Smedt B, Torbeyns J, Verschaffel L . Associations of Number Line Estimation With Mathematical Competence: A Meta-analysis. Child Dev. 2018; 89(5):1467-1484. DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13068. View

11.

Yuan L, Prather R, Mix K, Smith L . Number Representations Drive Number-Line Estimates. Child Dev. 2019; 91(4):e952-e967. PMC: 8918053. DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13333. View

12.

Landerl K, Fussenegger B, Moll K, Willburger E . Dyslexia and dyscalculia: two learning disorders with different cognitive profiles. J Exp Child Psychol. 2009; 103(3):309-24. DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2009.03.006. View

13.

Mazzocco M, Feigenson L, Halberda J . Impaired acuity of the approximate number system underlies mathematical learning disability (dyscalculia). Child Dev. 2011; 82(4):1224-37. PMC: 4411632. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01608.x. View

14.

Siegler R . Magnitude knowledge: the common core of numerical development. Dev Sci. 2016; 19(3):341-61. DOI: 10.1111/desc.12395. View

15.

Slusser E, Santiago R, Barth H . Developmental change in numerical estimation. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2012; 142(1):193-208. DOI: 10.1037/a0028560. View

16.

Gilmore C, McCarthy S, Spelke E . Non-symbolic arithmetic abilities and mathematics achievement in the first year of formal schooling. Cognition. 2010; 115(3):394-406. PMC: 3129629. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2010.02.002. View

17.

Fazio L, Bailey D, Thompson C, Siegler R . Relations of different types of numerical magnitude representations to each other and to mathematics achievement. J Exp Child Psychol. 2014; 123:53-72. DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2014.01.013. View

18.

Berteletti I, Lucangeli D, Piazza M, Dehaene S, Zorzi M . Numerical estimation in preschoolers. Dev Psychol. 2010; 46(2):545-51. DOI: 10.1037/a0017887. View

19.

Booth J, Siegler R . Developmental and individual differences in pure numerical estimation. Dev Psychol. 2006; 42(1):189-201. DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.41.6.189. View

20.

Siegler R, Opfer J . The development of numerical estimation: evidence for multiple representations of numerical quantity. Psychol Sci. 2003; 14(3):237-43. DOI: 10.1111/1467-9280.02438. View