Nonsymbolic numerical magnitude processing and arithmetic performance : an investigation on first-grade children with and without mathematics difficulties

Abstract

This study examined the nonsymbolic numerical magnitude processing in Chinese first graders with marked mathematics difficulties (MD) and typically achieving peers. The approximate number system (ANS) view has suggested that children with MD may have deficit in the internal representation of magnitudes. Chinese first-graders with MD were compared with age-matched typically achieving children on approximate numerical comparison, approximate addition and multiplication tasks. Children with MD were found to perform significantly worse than their age-matched controls in all tasks. Students before formal instruction in multiplication yielded an above-chance level of performance in approximate multiplication task, which suggested the existence of approximate multiplicative ability. After formal instruction in multiplication, the MD group performed significantly worse than controls in approximate multiplication task and arithmetic tests. Only normally achieving children showed significant improvement after formal instruction. This study provided further evidence for an intuitive numerical processing in arithmetic operation, and the result had significant implication to the diagnosis of MD and intervention on mathematics difficulties.