Preschoolers' Associations Between Space and Numbers Can Be Biased by Surface Area. Issue 4 (20th August 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dolscheid, Sarah; Verlage, Heiko
• Other Names: De Smedt Bert guestEditor.; Dumontheil Iroise guestEditor.; Peters Sabine guestEditor.; van Atteveldt Nienke guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: Mind, brain and education. Volume 13:Issue 4(2019)
• Page Start: 261
• Page End: 267
• Publication Date: 2019-08-20
• Subjects: Cognitive learning -- Periodicals; Education -- Research -- Periodicals; Developmental psychobiology -- Periodicals; Cognitive neuroscience -- Periodicals; Cognitive science -- Periodicals; Apprentissage cognitif -- Périodiques; Éducation -- Recherche -- Périodiques; Psychobiologie du développement -- Périodiques; Neurosciences cognitives -- Périodiques; Sciences cognitives -- Périodiques; 612.8233
• DOI: 10.1111/mbe.12217
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1751-2271

Abstract

ABSTRACT: People associate numbers and horizontal space. This association has been demonstrated by the so‐called SNARC (Spatial‐Numerical Association of Response Codes)‐effect, with Western participants responding faster to larger numbers with their right hand and vice versa for smaller numbers. SNARC‐like effects have also been reported for preschoolers. However, it remains unclear whether children's SNARC‐effects are exclusively based on number or whether nonnumerical factors such as surface area can also play a role. To address this question, we asked children to compare quantities in a nonsymbolic number comparison task. On half of the trials, the larger set took up more total surface area (congruent trials), and on the other half, the smaller number had more surface area (incongruent trials). We obtained a significant interaction of SNARC‐like effects and congruency. SNARC‐effects were only observed for congruent trials, demonstrating that preschoolers' spatial‐numerical associations can be affected by nonnumerical magnitude.