Article Version of Record

Unbounding the mental number line - new evidence on children’s spatial representation of numbers.

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Link, T.
Huber, S.
Nuerk, H.-C.
Moeller, K.

Other kind(s) of contributor

Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien

Abstract / Description

Number line estimation (i.e., indicating the position of a given number on a physical line) is a standard assessment of children's spatial representation of number magnitude. Importantly, there is an ongoing debate on the question in how far the bounded task version with start and endpoint given (e.g., 0 and 100) might induce specific estimation strategies and thus may not allow for unbiased inferences on the underlying representation. Recently, a new unbounded version of the task was suggested with only the start point and a unit fixed (e.g., the distance from 0 to 1). In adults this task provided a less biased index of the spatial representation of number magnitude. Yet, so far there are no children data available for the unbounded number line estimation task. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study on primary school children performing both, the bounded and the unbounded version of the task. We observed clear evidence for systematic strategic influences (i.e., the consideration of reference points) in the bounded number line estimation task for children older than grade two whereas there were no such indications for the unbounded version for any one of the age groups. In summary, the current data corroborate the unbounded number line estimation task to be a valuable tool for assessing children's spatial representation of number magnitude in a systematic and unbiased manner. Yet, similar results for the bounded and the unbounded version of the task for first- and second-graders may indicate that both versions of the task might assess the same underlying representation for relatively younger children—at least in number ranges familiar to the children assessed. This is of particular importance for inferences about the nature and development of children's magnitude representation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2014

Journal title

Frontiers in Psychology

Volume

4:1021

Publication status

publishedVersion

Review status

peerReviewed

Is version of

10.3389/fpsyg.2013.01021

Citation

  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Link, T.
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Huber, S.
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Nuerk, H.-C.
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Moeller, K.
  • Other kind(s) of contributor
    Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2017-08-28T11:11:15Z
  • Made available on
    2017-08-28T11:11:15Z
  • Date of first publication
    2014
  • Abstract / Description
    Number line estimation (i.e., indicating the position of a given number on a physical line) is a standard assessment of children's spatial representation of number magnitude. Importantly, there is an ongoing debate on the question in how far the bounded task version with start and endpoint given (e.g., 0 and 100) might induce specific estimation strategies and thus may not allow for unbiased inferences on the underlying representation. Recently, a new unbounded version of the task was suggested with only the start point and a unit fixed (e.g., the distance from 0 to 1). In adults this task provided a less biased index of the spatial representation of number magnitude. Yet, so far there are no children data available for the unbounded number line estimation task. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study on primary school children performing both, the bounded and the unbounded version of the task. We observed clear evidence for systematic strategic influences (i.e., the consideration of reference points) in the bounded number line estimation task for children older than grade two whereas there were no such indications for the unbounded version for any one of the age groups. In summary, the current data corroborate the unbounded number line estimation task to be a valuable tool for assessing children's spatial representation of number magnitude in a systematic and unbiased manner. Yet, similar results for the bounded and the unbounded version of the task for first- and second-graders may indicate that both versions of the task might assess the same underlying representation for relatively younger children—at least in number ranges familiar to the children assessed. This is of particular importance for inferences about the nature and development of children's magnitude representation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
  • Publication status
    publishedVersion
  • Review status
    peerReviewed
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/504
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.712
  • Is version of
    10.3389/fpsyg.2013.01021
  • Title
    Unbounding the mental number line - new evidence on children’s spatial representation of numbers.
  • DRO type
    article
  • Leibniz institute name(s) / abbreviation(s)
    IWM
  • Leibniz subject classification
    Psychologie
  • Journal title
    Frontiers in Psychology
  • Volume
    4:1021
  • Visible tag(s)
    Version of Record