Parallel individuation supports numerical comparisons in preschoolers
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Cheung, Pierina
Le Corre, Mathieu
Abstract / Description
While the approximate number system (ANS) has been shown to represent relations between numerosities starting in infancy, little is known about whether parallel individuation – a system dedicated to representing objects in small collections – can also be used to represent numerical relations between collections. To test this, we asked preschoolers between the ages of 2 ½ and 4 ½ to compare two arrays of figures that either included exclusively small numerosities (< 4) or exclusively large numerosities (> 4). The ratios of the comparisons were the same in both small and large numerosity conditions. Experiment 1 used a between-subject design, with different groups of preschoolers comparing small and large numerosities, and found that small numerosities are easier to compare than large ones. Experiment 2 replicated this finding with a wider range of set sizes. Experiment 3 further replicated the small-large difference in a within-subject design. We also report tentative evidence that non- and 1-knowers perform better on comparing small numerosities than large numerosities. These results suggest that preschoolers can use parallel individuation to compare numerosities, possibly prior to the onset of number word learning, and thus support previous proposals that there are numerical operations defined over parallel individuation (e.g., Feigenson & Carey, 2003; https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7687.00313).
Keyword(s)
parallel individuation analog magnitudes numerical comparison small large preschoolersPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2018-09-07
Journal title
Journal of Numerical Cognition
Volume
4
Issue
2
Page numbers
380–409
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Cheung, P., & Le Corre, M. (2018). Parallel individuation supports numerical comparisons in preschoolers. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 4(2), 380–409. https://doi.org/10.5964/jnc.v4i2.110
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Cheung, Pierina
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Le Corre, Mathieu
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-21T11:42:55Z
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Made available on2018-11-21T11:42:55Z
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Date of first publication2018-09-07
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Abstract / DescriptionWhile the approximate number system (ANS) has been shown to represent relations between numerosities starting in infancy, little is known about whether parallel individuation – a system dedicated to representing objects in small collections – can also be used to represent numerical relations between collections. To test this, we asked preschoolers between the ages of 2 ½ and 4 ½ to compare two arrays of figures that either included exclusively small numerosities (< 4) or exclusively large numerosities (> 4). The ratios of the comparisons were the same in both small and large numerosity conditions. Experiment 1 used a between-subject design, with different groups of preschoolers comparing small and large numerosities, and found that small numerosities are easier to compare than large ones. Experiment 2 replicated this finding with a wider range of set sizes. Experiment 3 further replicated the small-large difference in a within-subject design. We also report tentative evidence that non- and 1-knowers perform better on comparing small numerosities than large numerosities. These results suggest that preschoolers can use parallel individuation to compare numerosities, possibly prior to the onset of number word learning, and thus support previous proposals that there are numerical operations defined over parallel individuation (e.g., Feigenson & Carey, 2003; https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7687.00313).en_US
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Publication statuspublishedVersion
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Review statuspeerReviewed
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CitationCheung, P., & Le Corre, M. (2018). Parallel individuation supports numerical comparisons in preschoolers. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 4(2), 380–409. https://doi.org/10.5964/jnc.v4i2.110en_US
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ISSN2363-8761
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1292
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1484
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Language of contenteng
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PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
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Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/jnc.v4i2.110
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Keyword(s)parallel individuationen_US
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Keyword(s)analog magnitudesen_US
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Keyword(s)numerical comparisonen_US
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Keyword(s)smallen_US
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Keyword(s)largeen_US
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Keyword(s)preschoolersen_US
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleParallel individuation supports numerical comparisons in preschoolersen_US
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DRO typearticle
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Issue2
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Journal titleJournal of Numerical Cognition
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Page numbers380–409
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Volume4
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Visible tag(s)Version of Record