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Trajectories of Symbolic and Nonsymbolic Magnitude Processing in the First Year of Formal Schooling

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  • Anna A Matejko
  • Daniel Ansari

Abstract

Sensitivity to numerical magnitudes is thought to provide a foundation for higher-level mathematical skills such as calculation. It is still unclear how symbolic (e.g. Arabic digits) and nonsymbolic (e.g. Dots) magnitude systems develop and how the two formats relate to one another. Some theories propose that children learn the meaning of symbolic numbers by scaffolding them onto a pre-existing nonsymbolic system (Approximate Number System). Others suggest that symbolic and nonsymbolic magnitudes have distinct and non-overlapping representations. In the present study, we examine the developmental trajectories of symbolic and nonsymbolic magnitude processing skills and how they relate to each other in the first year of formal schooling when children are becoming more fluent with symbolic numbers. Thirty Grade 1 children completed symbolic and nonsymbolic magnitude processing tasks at three time points in Grade 1. We found that symbolic and nonsymbolic magnitude processing skills had distinct developmental trajectories, where symbolic magnitude processing was characterized by greater gains than nonsymbolic skills over the one-year period in Grade 1. We further found that the development of the two formats only related to one another in the first half of the school year where symbolic magnitude processing skills influenced later nonsymbolic skills. These findings indicate that symbolic and nonsymbolic abilities have different developmental trajectories and that the development of symbolic abilities is not strongly linked to nonsymbolic representations by Grade 1. These findings also suggest that the relationship between symbolic and nonsymbolic processing is not as unidirectional as previously thought.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna A Matejko & Daniel Ansari, 2016. "Trajectories of Symbolic and Nonsymbolic Magnitude Processing in the First Year of Formal Schooling," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-15, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0149863
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0149863
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Justin Halberda & Michèle M. M. Mazzocco & Lisa Feigenson, 2008. "Individual differences in non-verbal number acuity correlate with maths achievement," Nature, Nature, vol. 455(7213), pages 665-668, October.
    2. Carmen Brankaer & Pol Ghesquière & Bert De Smedt, 2014. "Children’s Mapping between Non-Symbolic and Symbolic Numerical Magnitudes and Its Association with Timed and Untimed Tests of Mathematics Achievement," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(4), pages 1-11, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Galina Larina & Yulia Kuzmina & Georgijs Kanonirs, 2020. "The Precision Of Symbolic Numerical Representation In Verbal Format Has An Indirect Effect On Math Performance In First Grade," HSE Working papers WP BRP 120/PSY/2020, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    2. Sabrina Finke & Chiara Banfi & H Harald Freudenthaler & Anna F Steiner & Stephan E Vogel & Silke M Göbel & Karin Landerl, 2021. "Common and distinct predictors of non-symbolic and symbolic ordinal number processing across the early primary school years," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(10), pages 1-23, October.
    3. Yulia Kuzmina & Tatiana Tikhomirova & Irina Lysenkova & Sergey Malykh, 2020. "Domain-general cognitive functions fully explained growth in nonsymbolic magnitude representation but not in symbolic representation in elementary school children," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(2), pages 1-23, February.

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