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Typical Development of Quantity Comparison in School-Aged Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Danilka Castro Cañizares ,
Nancy Estévez Pérez  and
Otmara Pérez Marrero
Danilka Castro Cañizares*
Affiliation:
Centro de Neurociencias de Cuba (Cuba)
Nancy Estévez Pérez
Affiliation:
Centro de Neurociencias de Cuba (Cuba)
Otmara Pérez Marrero
Affiliation:
Universidad de la Habana (Cuba)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Danilka Castro Cañizares. Centro de Neurociencias de Cuba. Ave 25 No. 15202 esq. 158. Cubanacán, Playa. Ciudad Habana. (Cuba). E-mail: danilkac@cneuro.edu.cu
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Abstract

Although basic numerical skills have been widely studied in the last years, very few studies have undertaken a developmental approach. The present study evaluated the development of the magnitude comparison basic numerical ability, in children from first, third and sixth grades by means of the subject's response time in numerical tasks presented in symbolic and non-symbolic formats. The results showed a significant decrease on quantities processing speed as age increases, which suggests numerical skills tend to become automatic with instruction. The differences found, concerning the general achievement pattern in each school year, might express the maturational specificities of the numerical representation system through development.

Aunque las capacidades numéricas básicas han sido ampliamente investigadas en los últimos años, muy pocos estudios han tenido en cuenta una perspectiva del desarrollo de las mismas. En este estudio se evaluó el desarrollo de la capacidad numérica básica de comparación de cantidades en escolares de primero, tercero y sexto grados, a través del análisis del tiempo de reacción de los sujetos en tareas numéricas presentadas en formatos simbólico y no simbólico. Los resultados mostraron una disminución significativa en la velocidad de procesamiento de las cantidades con el incremento de la edad, lo cual apunta a una automatización de las habilidades numéricas con el aumento del nivel escolar. Las diferencias encontradas en el patrón de rendimiento general en cada grado escolar podrían expresar las particularidades de la maduración del sistema de representación numérica en las diferentes etapas del desarrollo.

Keywords

developmentdistance effectmagnitude comparisonpresentation formatcomparación de magnitudesdesarrolloefecto de distanciaformato de presentación
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , May 2011 , pp. 50 - 61
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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