Non-symbolic arithmetic abilities and mathematics achievement in thefirst year of formal schooling

摘要

Children take years to learn symbolic arithmetic. Nevertheless, non-human animals,human adults with no formal education, and human infants represent approximate num-ber in arrays of objects and sequences of events, and they use these capacities to performapproximate addition and subtraction. Do children harness these abilities when they beginto learn school mathematics? In two experiments in different schools, kindergarten chil-dren from diverse backgrounds were tested on their non-symbolic arithmetic abilities dur-ing the school year, as well as on their mastery of number words and symbols. Performanceof non-symbolic arithmetic predicted children's mathematics achievement at the end ofthe school year, independent of achievement in reading or general intelligence. Non-sym-bolic arithmetic performance was also related to children's mastery of number words andsymbols, which figured prominently in the assessments of mathematics achievement inboth schools. Thus, non-symbolic and symbolic numerical abilities are specifically related,in children of diverse socio-economic backgrounds, near the start of mathematicsinstruction