A Quote
∞ posted 3 months ago
The study, by Johns Hopkins University psychologists, suggests that the ability to understand math is linked to an inborn “number sense,” also known as “approximate number system,” that’s inherent in all animals, including humans. You use number sense to do things like instantly estimate how many people are in a room or how many empty seats there are in a movie theater. Animals use it to do things like determine where the most food is.
The study measured the number sense of preschoolers and linked it to their performance on various tests of math ability. Preschoolers were used because they hadn’t yet received any formal math education, which is an important distinction because researchers believe number sense is universal while math ability is taught and is highly influenced by culture and language and takes years to learn.
The preschoolers were given two sets of tests. The first set involved number sense tests in which the preschoolers viewed groups of blue and yellow dots on a computer screen and estimated which color had more dots. The second set involved math ability tests in which the same preschoolers were measured on numbering skills (verbally counting items on a page), numerical literacy (reading numbers), calculation skills (addition and subtraction), and other abilities.
The researchers found that the preschoolers who did better at estimating dots also did better when it came to the math ability tests. General intelligence tests were also administered to rule out those who simply performed well on all the tests.
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