Differential Development of Children's Understanding of the Cardinality of Small Numbers and Zero

Aprendizaje del conteo y los números naturales en preescolar: una revisión sistemática de la literatura

Aprender a contar cantidades discretas de forma exacta constituye uno de los primeros hitos del desarrollo del conocimiento matemático infantil. En los últimos años, ha habido un extenso debate en torno a cómo ocurre este proceso de aprendizaje en preescolar. La actual investigación tuvo como objetivo conocer las temáticas y preguntas de investigación generales desarrolladas en los últimos cinco años en cuanto al aprendizaje del conteo y los números naturales en preescolar. Para ello, se realizó una revisión sistemática en la que se hizo una indagación en las bases de datos ScienceDirect, EBSCO, Web of Science, SpringerLink, JSTOR y Sage. Se obtuvieron 98 artículos de investigación que fueron examinados mediante análisis de conglomerados y mapas jerárquicos a través de NVIVO 11.0.  Se encontraron cuatro núcleos temáticos (Ideas sobre los procesos cognitivos implicados en la comprensión del número, Representación de magnitudes numéricas, Intervenciones para favorecer el desarrollo de habilidades matemáticas y Aspectos estructurales del número), que muestran el panorama actual de investigación sobre aprendizaje del conteo. Los resultados de este estudio son importantes para delimitar posibles programas futuros de investigación, y pueden ser usados por docentes como insumo para enriquecer los ambientes de aprendizaje de sus aulas de clase.

Early number word learning: Associations with domain-general and domain-specific quantitative abilities

Cardinal number knowledge-understanding “two” refers to sets of two entities-is a critical piece of knowledge that predicts later mathematics achievement. Recent studies have shown that domain-general and domain-specific skills can influence children’s cardinal number learning. However, there has not yet been research investigating the influence of domain-specific quantifier knowledge on children’s cardinal number learning. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of domain-general and domain-specific skills on Mandarin Chinese-speaking children’s cardinal number learning after controlling for a number of family background factors. Particular interest was paid to the question whether domain-specific quantifier knowledge was associated with cardinal number development. Specifically, we investigated 2–5-year-old Mandarin Chinese-speaking children’s understanding of cardinal number words as well as their general language, intelligence, approximate number system (ANS) acuity, and knowledge of quantifiers. Children’s age, gender, parental education, and family income were also assessed and used as covariates. We found that domain-general abilities, including general language and intelligence, did not account for significant additional variance of cardinal number knowledge after controlling for the aforementioned covariates. We also found that domain-specific quantifier knowledge did not account for significant additional variance of cardinal number knowledge, whereas domain-specific ANS acuity accounted for significant additional variance of cardinal number knowledge, after controlling for the aforementioned covariates. In sum, the results suggest that domain-specific numerical skills seem to be more important for children’s development of cardinal number words than the more proximal domain-general abilities such as language abilities and intelligence. The results also highlight the significance of ANS acuity on children’s cardinal number word development.