Emergence of the Link Between the Approximate Number System and Symbolic Math Ability.

NUMBER systems; MATHEMATICS; ACADEMIC ability; NONVERBAL ability; PRESCHOOL children

Experimentally manipulating Approximate Number System (ANS) precision has been found to influence children's subsequent symbolic math performance. Here in three experiments (N = 160; 81 girls; 3–5 year old) we replicated this effect and examined its duration and developmental trajectory. We found that modulation of 5‐year‐olds' ANS precision continued to affect their symbolic math performance after a 30‐min delay. Furthermore, our cross‐sectional investigation revealed that children 4.5 years and older experienced a significant transfer effect of ANS manipulation on math performance, whereas younger children showed no such transfer, despite experiencing significant changes in ANS precision. These findings support the existence of a causal link between nonverbal numerical approximation and symbolic math performance that first emerges during the preschool years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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