TY - JOUR

T1 - Using Cardinality to Compare Quantities: The Role of Social-Cognitive Conflict in Early Numeracy.

AU - Lewis, C. N.

AU - Francis, B.

AU - Muldoon, K.

N1 - Lewis senior author. The study was designed with Muldoon, the statistics were conducted with Francis and Muldoon and Lewis shared the lead in writing up. RAE_import_type : Journal article RAE_uoa_type : Psychology

PY - 2007/9

Y1 - 2007/9

N2 - A key question in early number development is how 4- and 5-year-olds learn the roles that counting and cardinal numbers play when comparing quantities. Children who wrongly used length to identify numerosity were assigned to five experimental groups and trained to judge whether a puppet – who sometimes miscounted – created equivalent sets. Over three training sessions, children who were asked to compare sets after they were counted learned to base their judgments on cardinal numbers when the puppet counted accurately by being given feedback. However, only the groups who were also asked to explain either their own or the experimenter's reasoning made progress in identifying the puppet's miscounts. This ability to recognize the importance of counting accuracy for quantitative comparisons predicted whether children would spontaneously count to compare sets on a post-test. The importance of asking children to identify miscounts is discussed alongside the social factors that influence children's recognition of the relationship between procedural counting, cardinality and relative number.

AB - A key question in early number development is how 4- and 5-year-olds learn the roles that counting and cardinal numbers play when comparing quantities. Children who wrongly used length to identify numerosity were assigned to five experimental groups and trained to judge whether a puppet – who sometimes miscounted – created equivalent sets. Over three training sessions, children who were asked to compare sets after they were counted learned to base their judgments on cardinal numbers when the puppet counted accurately by being given feedback. However, only the groups who were also asked to explain either their own or the experimenter's reasoning made progress in identifying the puppet's miscounts. This ability to recognize the importance of counting accuracy for quantitative comparisons predicted whether children would spontaneously count to compare sets on a post-test. The importance of asking children to identify miscounts is discussed alongside the social factors that influence children's recognition of the relationship between procedural counting, cardinality and relative number.

U2 - 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00618.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00618.x

M3 - Journal article

VL - 10

SP - 694

EP - 711

JO - Developmental Science

JF - Developmental Science

SN - 1363-755X

IS - 5

ER -