Psychological Development and Education ›› 2016, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (2): 129-138.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2016.02.01

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Preschool Children's Approximate Number System Acuity and Symbolic Number Abilities

NIU Yubai1, SHI Ranran1, CAO Xiancai2   

  1. 1. Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-tech University, Hangzhou 310018;
    2. Institute of Developmental Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875
  • Online:2016-03-15 Published:2016-03-15

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Abstract: A hundred and twenty-two children(3-to 6-year-old) participated in 11 tasks measuring ANS acuity, symbolic number abilities, inhibitory control, short memory, working memory and receptive vocabulary. Results showed that(1) Preschool children's ANS acuity increases by their age. (2) Both of the same different task and the non-symbolic magnitude comparison task can measure 3-to 6-year-old preschool children's ANS acuity. Their performances in the non-symbolic magnitude comparison task were better than that in the same-different task. (3) The Weber Faction calculated by non-symbolic magnitude comparison task significantly correlated with cardinality proficiency and symbolic number knowledge, and the accuracy of this task correlated with counting skills, cardinality proficiency and symbolic number knowledge, when short memory, working memory, inhibitory control and receptive vocabulary were controlled. (4) The accuracy of different trails in the same-different task correlated with symbolic number knowledge.

Key words: preschool children, approximate number system, Weber Fraction, non-symbolic magnitude comparison task, same different task

CLC Number: 

  • B844
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