Assignment 2: Number Sense

Part One: Primary Source: Starr, Libertus, & Brannon (2013)
Review the research article to answer the following questions:

1. The purpose of this research was to demonstrate a relationship between ANS acuity during infancy and math achievement later in childhood.

2. This research was conducted using a longitudinal study design of 6 month old infants and 3 and a half year old children.

3. Researchers define the approximate number system as a cognitive ability that allows us to infer an approximation of numbers without the need to count or rely on numerical symbols.

4. It was important for researchers to test ANS before formal education because learning the early math concepts such as the verbal counting system may make ANS acuity greater. 6 month old infants are not familiar with verbal or written …show more content…
Six month old infants were showed two streams of visual arrays, one with a changing number of objects and one with the same number of objects. To test for perceptual discrimination ability, non-numerical change in an object was also tested. The preferential looking paradigm is how ANS was measured for these infants. Their preference was to the stream of dots that changed numerically rather than size or arrangement. It is thought that the longer an infant looked at the visual array that changed numerically, the higher their ANS acuity.

6. 3 and a half year old children were asked to complete a nonsymbolic comparison task by choosing the numerically larger visual array. Researchers used the Weber fraction that quantifies the perception of change to measure ANS. Children also completed the Test of Early Mathematics Ability, a Give-the-Number task, and a general intelligence test.

7. The main findings were that the preference scores from the task at 6 months were significantly correlated with ANS acuity and standardized math scores at 3 and a half years old, giving evidence that this number sense plays a role in later learning of