Rights statement: This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.
Accepted author manuscript, 147 KB, PDF document
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - A longitudinal analysis of estimation accuracy, counting skills and mathematical ability across the first school year
AU - Muldoon, Kevin
AU - Towse, John
AU - Simms, Victoria
AU - Perra, Oliver
AU - Menzies, Victoria
N1 - This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record
PY - 2013/2
Y1 - 2013/2
N2 - In response to claims that the quality (and in particular linearity) of children’s mental representation of number acts as a constraint on number development, we carried out a longitudinal assessment of the relationships between number line estimation, counting, and mathematical abilities. Ninety-nine five-year-olds were tested on four occasions at three-monthly intervals. Correlations between the three types of ability were evident, but while the quality of children’s estimations changed over time, and performance on the mathematical tasks improved over the same period, changes in one were not associated with changes in the other. In contrast to the earlier claims that the linearity of number representation is potentially a unique contributor to children’s mathematical development, the data suggest that this variable is not significantly privileged in its impact over and above simple procedural number skills. We propose that both early arithmetic success and estimating skill are bound closely to developments in counting ability.
AB - In response to claims that the quality (and in particular linearity) of children’s mental representation of number acts as a constraint on number development, we carried out a longitudinal assessment of the relationships between number line estimation, counting, and mathematical abilities. Ninety-nine five-year-olds were tested on four occasions at three-monthly intervals. Correlations between the three types of ability were evident, but while the quality of children’s estimations changed over time, and performance on the mathematical tasks improved over the same period, changes in one were not associated with changes in the other. In contrast to the earlier claims that the linearity of number representation is potentially a unique contributor to children’s mathematical development, the data suggest that this variable is not significantly privileged in its impact over and above simple procedural number skills. We propose that both early arithmetic success and estimating skill are bound closely to developments in counting ability.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84877639560&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/a0028240
DO - 10.1037/a0028240
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:84877639560
VL - 49
SP - 250
EP - 257
JO - Developmental Psychology
JF - Developmental Psychology
SN - 0012-1649
IS - 2
ER -