Impact of high mathematics education on the number sense.

Castronovo, Julie; Göbel, Silke M.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0033832

Impact of high mathematics education on the number sense.

Castronovo, Julie; Göbel, Silke M.

Authors

Dr Julie Castronovo J.Castronovo@hull.ac.uk
Associate Dean Education, Senior Lecturer

Silke M. Göbel

Contributors

Pedro Antonio Valdes-Sosa
Editor

Abstract

In adult number processing two mechanisms are commonly used: approximate estimation of quantity and exact calculation. While the former relies on the approximate number sense (ANS) which we share with animals and preverbal infants, the latter has been proposed to rely on an exact number system (ENS) which develops later in life following the acquisition of symbolic number knowledge. The current study investigated the influence of high level math education on the ANS and the ENS. Our results showed that the precision of non-symbolic quantity representation was not significantly altered by high level math education. However, performance in a symbolic number comparison task as well as the ability to map accurately between symbolic and non-symbolic quantities was significantly better the higher mathematics achievement. Our findings suggest that high level math education in adults shows little influence on their ANS, but it seems to be associated with a better anchored ENS and better mapping abilities between ENS and ANS.

Citation

Castronovo, J., & Göbel, S. M. (2012). Impact of high mathematics education on the number sense. PLoS ONE, 7(4), e33832. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033832

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Feb 21, 2012
Online Publication Date	Apr 25, 2012
Publication Date	Mar 25, 2012
Deposit Date	Nov 13, 2014
Publicly Available Date	Nov 23, 2017
Journal	PLoS ONE
Print ISSN	1932-6203
Electronic ISSN	1932-6203
Publisher	Public Library of Science
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	7
Issue	4
Article Number	ARTN e33832
Pages	e33832
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033832
Keywords	General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; General Agricultural and Biological Sciences; General Medicine
Public URL	https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/464841
Publisher URL	http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0033832

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Copyright Statement
© 2012 Castronovo, Göbel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.