Poster #9 - Integration of Symbolic and Non-symbolic Numerical Information in Children: Task-Dependence and its Link to Math Abilities

• In Event: Poster Session 20

Abstract

From birth, children have access to the approximate number system, which allows them to represent and transform approximate estimates of numerical quantities. As children learn to count and acquire symbolic numbers, they develop a symbolic number system to represent exact numerical information. In this study, we investigated how these two number systems are integrated in middle childhood, and if this integration relates to children’s formal math abilities. To this end, we tested 87 children (9 to 10 years old) on two tasks: a number comparison task and a number-letter discrimination task. For the number comparison task, children judged the larger of two sequentially presented stimuli that were either presented in the same number format (dot-dot or numeral-numeral) or in a mixed format (dot-numeral or numeral-dot) (Figure 1a). For the number-letter judgement task, children identified Arabic numerals or letter pairs superimposed on dot arrays that either matched or mismatched the quantity denoted by the Arabic numerals (Figure 1b). In the number comparison task, children were significantly slower when comparing mixed-format stimuli than same-format stimuli (Figure 2a), which suggests an estrangement between symbolic and non-symbolic numerical information. In contrast, in the number-letter discrimination task, children were significantly faster in discriminating numerals when they matched the quantity of dots (Figure 2b), suggesting an immediate integration between symbolic and non-symbolic numerical information. Additionally, correlational analyses showed that same-format symbolic and non-symbolic number comparisons are associated with children’s math abilities, which suggested that both non-symbolic and symbolic number processing are critical for higher math achievement in children. Critically, we also investigated whether there were relations between numerical estrangement or integration and children’s math abilities. One index of numerical estrangement was derived from the comparison task by calculating the difference of response time (RT) between mixed-format and same-format conditions (DN&ND – DD&NN), and one index of numerical integration was derived from the number-letter judgement task by calculating the RT difference between mismatch and match conditions. Unlike previous results in adults (Ren et al., 2022), we did not find correlations between symbolic estrangement or integration and math abilities in children. One possible explanation is that children’s math skills still mainly rely on basic number processing such as magnitude or symbolic processing, and the degree of differentiation and integration between symbolic and non-symbolic numerical information may not systematically relate to all aspects of children’s math performance. Thus, we conclude that when children process numbers, the integration or estrangement of symbolic and non-symbolic numerical information is task-dependent, and while non-symbolic and symbolic number processing are critical for higher math achievements in children, the integration between these systems may not.

Authors

• Xueying Ren, University of Pittsburgh
  Presenting Author

• Marc N. Coutanche

• Julie A. Fiez

• Melissa E Libertus, University of Pittsburgh