Originally published September 27 2005
Preschoolers have inherent math abilities, study suggests
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A Harvard study shows five-year-old children with no formal training in math seem to have an inherent understanding of some basic mathematical concepts when problems are presented to them visually rather than verbally, perhaps offering new suggestions for how math should be taught to young children.
A paper describing the findings will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and is now on the journal's web site.
"Teaching symbolic arithmetic is one of the primary tasks of the first four years of elementary education," says co-author Elizabeth S. Spelke, a professor of psychology in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
"Some children have enormous trouble mastering this skill, and most children find symbolic arithmetic challenging and, at times, confusing.
Our studies say, however, that children already have a basic understanding of this domain.
Spelke and her colleagues asked 16 preschoolers to compare arrays of dots on a computer screen, or to merge two sets of dots and then compare these with a third set.
These skills contrasted sharply with the preschoolers' ability to comprehend symbolic arithmetic, as is taught in school.
For instance, children were unable to answer verbal questions about numerical addition, such as: "Suppose you have 15 marbles and your mom gives you 10 more, while your sister has 20 marbles.
Who has more marbles, you or your sister?"
However, the children were able to solve this same problem when it was presented in non-symbolic form, such as an array of 15 blue dots, then a second array of 10 blue dots, and finally a sequence of 20 tones.
When asked whether there were more dots or tones, the youngsters were able to give correct answers.
"A fundamental question for psychology is, 'Where do abstract number concepts come from?'" Spelke says.
"Some have suggested they come from human language or are constructed by children during formal instruction; our studies provide evidence that children have abstract number concepts, and that they can operate on these concepts to perform addition, before they start school.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml