Linguistic Influences on Children's Number Concepts : Methodological and Theoretical Considerations

Towse, John N. and Saxton, Matthew (1997) Linguistic Influences on Children's Number Concepts : Methodological and Theoretical Considerations. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 66 (3). pp. 362-375. ISSN 0022-0965

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Abstract

From observations of how children match numerals to number tokens, previous research has suggested that cognitive representations of numbers vary with the linguistic demarcation of numerals. It is argued here that this paradigm does not always support the idea that language affects number concepts and that children's performance is shaped by other constraints. In Experiment 1, increasing the salience of multiple unit tokens significantly altered the distribution of response strategies in 61/2- to 71/2-year-old children. In Experiments 2 and 3, the importance of instructions in biasing responses is demonstrated, as 51/2- to 71/2-year-old children's use of multiunit tokens increased when given an example of their potential use. It appears that the task reflects in part children's interpretations and misinterpretations of task demands. Implications for the role of language in acquiring base-10 number concepts are discussed.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3200/3204
Subjects:
?? developmental and educational psychologyexperimental and cognitive psychology ??
ID Code:
84259
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
24 Jan 2017 15:18
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
15 Jul 2024 15:52