title: Development of spatial representation of numbers: a study of the SNARC effect in Chinese children.
abstract: Using the standard parity judgment task, this study investigated the development of numerical-spatial representation. Participants were 314 healthy right-handed Chinese children (from kindergarteners to sixth graders) and adults. The results revealed that all age groups showed a significant (or marginally significant in the case of first graders) SNARC (spatial-numerical association of response codes) effect, indicating that Chinese children as young as kindergarteners already had developed automatic spatial representations of numbers (or the mental number line). Surprisingly, however, the size of the SNARC effect did not show much developmental change. These results are discussed in the context of the literature on spatial representations of numbers and on cross-cultural differences in early development of number cognition.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Educational Statistics and Measurement, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China. Electronic address: yangtao@bnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Chuansheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xinlin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jihong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Chunhui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics / Q000193:education*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Chinese children; Development; Number cognition; Parity judgment; SNARC effect; Spatial representation