When the mental number line involves a delay: the writing of numbers by children of different arithmetical abilities
Publication year
2009Number of pages
14 p.
Source
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 102, 1, (2009), pp. 26-39ISSN
Publication type
Article / Letter to editor

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Organization
SW OZ DCC CO
Journal title
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
Volume
vol. 102
Issue
iss. 1
Languages used
English (eng)
Page start
p. 26
Page end
p. 39
Subject
Action, intention, and motor control; DI-BCB_DCC_Theme 2: Perception, Action and ControlAbstract
Our study focused on number transcoding in children. It investigated how 9-year-olds with and without arithmetical disabilities wrote Arabic digits after they had heard them as number words. Planning time before writing each digit was registered. Analyses revealed that the two groups differed not only in arithmetical abilities but also in verbal and reading abilities. Children with arithmetical disabilities were overall slower in planning Arabic digits than were control children with normal arithmetical abilities. In addition, they showed a number size effect for numbers smaller than 10, suggesting a semantically mediated route in number processing. Control children did not need more planning time for large numbers (e.g., 8) than for small numbers (e.g., 3), suggesting a direct nonsemantic route. For both two- and three-digit numbers, both groups of children showed a number size effect, although the effect was smaller each time for control children. The presence of the stronger number size effect for children with arithmetical disabilities was seen as a delay in the development of quick and direct transcoding. The relation between transcoding problems and arithmetical disabilities is discussed. A defect in the linking of numerical symbols to analog numerical representations is proposed as an explanation for the transcoding problems found in some children.
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- Faculty of Social Sciences [27309]
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