Assessing the Approximate Number System: no relation between numerical comparison and estimation tasks.
| Title: | Assessing the Approximate Number System: no relation between numerical comparison and estimation tasks. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Guillaume M; Cognitive Science and Assessment Institute (COSA), Department of Education, Culture, Cognition and Society (ECCS), University of Luxembourg, Walferdange, Luxembourg. maguilla@ulb.ac.be.; Centre de Recherche Cognition and Neurosciences (CRCN), ULB Neuroscience Institute (UNI), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Av. F. Roosevelt 50/191, 1050, Brussels, Belgium. maguilla@ulb.ac.be.; Gevers W; Centre de Recherche Cognition and Neurosciences (CRCN), ULB Neuroscience Institute (UNI), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Av. F. Roosevelt 50/191, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.; Content A; Centre de Recherche Cognition and Neurosciences (CRCN), ULB Neuroscience Institute (UNI), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Av. F. Roosevelt 50/191, 1050, Brussels, Belgium. |
| Source: | Psychological research [Psychol Res] 2016 Mar; Vol. 80 (2), pp. 248-58. Date of Electronic Publication: 2015 Mar 06. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: Springer-Verlag Country of Publication: Germany NLM ID: 0435062 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1430-2772 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 03400727 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Psychol Res Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: Berlin, New York, Springer-Verlag. |
| MeSH Terms: | Knowledge* ; Mathematics*; Comprehension/*physiology ; Judgment/*physiology ; Problem Solving/*physiology; Cues ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Young Adult |
| Abstract: | Whether our general numerical skills and the mathematical knowledge that we acquire at school are entwined is a debated issue, which many researchers are still striving to investigate. The findings reported in the literature are actually inconsistent; some studies emphasized the existence of a relationship between the acuity of the Approximate Number System (ANS) and arithmetic competence, while some others did not observe any significant correlation. One potential explanation of the discrepancy might stem from the evaluation of the ANS itself. In the present study, we correlated two measures used to index ANS acuity with arithmetic performance. These measures were the Weber fraction (w), computed from a numerical comparison task and the coefficient of variation (CV), computed from a numerical estimation task. Arithmetic performance correlated with estimation CV but not with comparison w. We further investigated the meaning of this result by taking the relationship between w and CV into account. We expected a tight relation as both these measures are believed to assess ANS acuity. Crucially, however, w and CV did not correlate with each other. Moreover, the value of w was modulated by the congruity of the relation between numerical magnitude and non-numerical visual cues, potentially accounting for the lack of correlation between the measures. Our findings thus challenge the overuse of w to assess ANS acuity and more generally put into question the relevance of correlating this measure with arithmetic without any deeper understanding of what they are really indexing. |
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| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20150307 Date Completed: 20161012 Latest Revision: 20181202 |
| Update Code: | 20260130 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00426-015-0657-x |
| PMID: | 25742706 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't