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Reliability and Validity of Nonsymbolic and Symbolic Comparison Tasks in School-Aged Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 December 2017

Danilka Castro Open the ORCID record for Danilka Castro [Opens in a new window] ,
Nancy Estévez ,
David Gómez  and
Pablo Ricardo Dartnell Open the ORCID record for Pablo Ricardo Dartnell [Opens in a new window]
Danilka Castro*
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación (Chile)
Nancy Estévez
Affiliation:
Centro de Neurociencias de Cuba (Cuba)
David Gómez
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación (Chile)
Pablo Ricardo Dartnell
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación (Chile)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Danilka Castro Cañizares. Área de Investigación de Neurociencia y Cognición del Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación. Santiago (Chile). E-mail: danilka.castro@ciae.uchile.cl
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Abstract

Basic numerical processing has been regularly assessed using numerical nonsymbolic and symbolic comparison tasks. It has been assumed that these tasks index similar underlying processes. However, the evidence concerning the reliability and convergent validity across different versions of these tasks is inconclusive. We explored the reliability and convergent validity between two numerical comparison tasks (nonsymbolic vs. symbolic) in school-aged children. The relations between performance in both tasks and mental arithmetic were described and a developmental trajectories’ analysis was also conducted. The influence of verbal and visuospatial working memory processes and age was controlled for in the analyses. Results show significant reliability (p < .001) between Block 1 and 2 for nonsymbolic task (global adjusted RT (adjRT): r = .78, global efficiency measures (EMs): r = .74) and, for symbolic task (adjRT: r = .86, EMs: r = .86). Also, significant convergent validity between tasks (p < .001) for both adjRT (r = .71) and EMs (r = .70) were found after controlling for working memory and age. Finally, it was found the relationship between nonsymbolic and symbolic efficiencies varies across the sample’s age range. Overall, these findings suggest both tasks index the same underlying cognitive architecture and are appropriate to explore the Approximate Number System (ANS) characteristics. The evidence supports the central role of ANS in arithmetic efficiency and suggests there are differences across the age range assessed, concerning the extent to which efficiency in nonsymbolic and symbolic tasks reflects ANS acuity.

Keywords

ANSarithmeticreliabilityvalidityworking memory
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 20 , 2017 , E75
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2017 

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Footnotes

Funding from PIA-CONICYT Basal Funds for Centers of Excellence Project FB0003 is gratefully acknowledged.

How to cite this article:

Castro, D., Estévez, N., Gómez, D., & Dartnell, P. R. (2017). Reliability and validity of nonsymbolic and symbolic comparison tasks in school-aged children. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 20. e75. Doi:10.1017/sjp.2017.68

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