The development of numerical estimation: evidence against a representational shift

作者:Barth Hilary C*; Paladino Annie M
来源:DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, 2011, 14(1): 125-135.
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2010.00962.x

摘要

How do our mental representations of number change over development? The dominant view holds that children (and adults) possess multiple representations of number, and that age and experience lead to a shift from greater reliance upon logarithmically organized number representations to greater reliance upon more accurate, linear representations. Here we present a new theoretically motivated and empirically supported account of the development of numerical estimation, based on the idea that number-line estimation tasks entail judgments of proportion. We extend existing models of perceptual proportion judgment to the case of abstract numerical magnitude. Two experiments provide support for these models; three likely sources of developmental change in children's estimation performance are identified and discussed. This work demonstrates that proportion-judgment models provide a unified account of estimation patterns that have previously been explained in terms of a developmental shift from logarithmic to linear representations of number.

  • 出版日期2011-1