Article Version of Record

Methodological aspects to be considered when measuring the approximate number system (ANS) – a research review.

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Dietrich, J. F.
Huber, S.
Nuerk, H.-C.

Other kind(s) of contributor

Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien

Abstract / Description

According to a dominant view, the approximate number system (ANS) is the foundation of symbolic math abilities. Due to the importance of math abilities for education and career, a lot of research focuses on the investigation of the ANS and its relationship with math performance. However, the results are inconsistent. This might be caused by studies differing greatly regarding the operationalization of the ANS (i.e., tasks, dependent variables). Moreover, many methodological aspects vary from one study to the next. In the present review, we discuss commonly used ANS tasks and dependent variables regarding their theoretical foundation and psychometric features. We argue that the inconsistent findings concerning the relationship between ANS acuity and math performance may be partially explained by differences in reliability. Furthermore, this review summarizes methodological aspects of ANS tasks having important impacts on the results, including stimulus range, visual controls, presentation duration of the stimuli and feedback. Based on this review, we give methodological recommendations on how to assess the ANS most reliably and most validly. All important methodological aspects to be considered when designing an ANS task or comparing results of different studies are summarized in two practical checklists.

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2015

Journal title

Frontiers in Psychology

Volume

6:295

Publication status

publishedVersion

Review status

peerReviewed

Is version of

10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00295

Citation

  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Dietrich, J. F.
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Huber, S.
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Nuerk, H.-C.
  • Other kind(s) of contributor
    Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2017-08-28T11:11:37Z
  • Made available on
    2017-08-28T11:11:37Z
  • Date of first publication
    2015
  • Abstract / Description
    According to a dominant view, the approximate number system (ANS) is the foundation of symbolic math abilities. Due to the importance of math abilities for education and career, a lot of research focuses on the investigation of the ANS and its relationship with math performance. However, the results are inconsistent. This might be caused by studies differing greatly regarding the operationalization of the ANS (i.e., tasks, dependent variables). Moreover, many methodological aspects vary from one study to the next. In the present review, we discuss commonly used ANS tasks and dependent variables regarding their theoretical foundation and psychometric features. We argue that the inconsistent findings concerning the relationship between ANS acuity and math performance may be partially explained by differences in reliability. Furthermore, this review summarizes methodological aspects of ANS tasks having important impacts on the results, including stimulus range, visual controls, presentation duration of the stimuli and feedback. Based on this review, we give methodological recommendations on how to assess the ANS most reliably and most validly. All important methodological aspects to be considered when designing an ANS task or comparing results of different studies are summarized in two practical checklists.
  • Publication status
    publishedVersion
  • Review status
    peerReviewed
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/533
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.741
  • Is version of
    10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00295
  • Title
    Methodological aspects to be considered when measuring the approximate number system (ANS) – a research review.
  • DRO type
    article
  • Leibniz institute name(s) / abbreviation(s)
    IWM
  • Leibniz subject classification
    Psychologie
  • Journal title
    Frontiers in Psychology
  • Volume
    6:295
  • Visible tag(s)
    Version of Record