When adding or subtracting quantities, adults tend to overestimate addition outcomes and underestimate subtraction outcomes. They also shift visuospatial attention to the right when adding and to the left when subtracting. These operational momentum phenomena are thought to reflect an underlying representation in which small magnitudes are associated with the left side of space and large magnitudes with the right side of space. Currently, there is limited research on operational momentum in early childhood or for operations other than addition and subtraction. The current study tested whether English-speaking 3- and 4-year-old children and college-aged adults exhibit operational momentum when ordering quantities. Participants were presented with two experimental blocks. In one block of trials, they were tasked with choosing the same quantity they had previously seen three times; in the other block, they were asked to generate the next quantity in a doubling sequence composed of three ascending quantities. A bias to shift attention to the right after an ascending operation was found in both age groups, and a bias to overestimate the next sequential quantity during an ascending ordering operation was found in adults under conditions of uncertainty. These data suggest that, for children, the spatial biases during operating are more pronounced than the mis-estimation biases. These findings highlight the spatial underpinnings of operational momentum and suggest that both very young children and adults conceptualize quantity along a horizontal continuum during ordering operations, even before formal schooling.

Dunn, A., Bernstein, N., de Hevia, M., Macchi Cassia, V., Bulf, H., Mccrink, K. (2019). Operational momentum for magnitude ordering in preschool children and adults. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY, 179, 260-275 [10.1016/j.jecp.2018.11.017].

Operational momentum for magnitude ordering in preschool children and adults

Macchi Cassia, V;Bulf, H;
2019

Abstract

When adding or subtracting quantities, adults tend to overestimate addition outcomes and underestimate subtraction outcomes. They also shift visuospatial attention to the right when adding and to the left when subtracting. These operational momentum phenomena are thought to reflect an underlying representation in which small magnitudes are associated with the left side of space and large magnitudes with the right side of space. Currently, there is limited research on operational momentum in early childhood or for operations other than addition and subtraction. The current study tested whether English-speaking 3- and 4-year-old children and college-aged adults exhibit operational momentum when ordering quantities. Participants were presented with two experimental blocks. In one block of trials, they were tasked with choosing the same quantity they had previously seen three times; in the other block, they were asked to generate the next quantity in a doubling sequence composed of three ascending quantities. A bias to shift attention to the right after an ascending operation was found in both age groups, and a bias to overestimate the next sequential quantity during an ascending ordering operation was found in adults under conditions of uncertainty. These data suggest that, for children, the spatial biases during operating are more pronounced than the mis-estimation biases. These findings highlight the spatial underpinnings of operational momentum and suggest that both very young children and adults conceptualize quantity along a horizontal continuum during ordering operations, even before formal schooling.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Operational momentum, Ordering operations, Number, Quantity, Magnitude, Preschool children, Adults, Number space mapping
English
2019
179
260
275
none
Dunn, A., Bernstein, N., de Hevia, M., Macchi Cassia, V., Bulf, H., Mccrink, K. (2019). Operational momentum for magnitude ordering in preschool children and adults. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY, 179, 260-275 [10.1016/j.jecp.2018.11.017].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/220901
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