Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T03:26:49.919Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

What is the precise role of cognitive control in the development of a sense of number?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2017

Rebecca Merkley
Affiliation:
Numerical Cognition Laboratory, Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canadarebecca.merkley@gmail.comdaniel.ansari@uwo.cahttp://www.numericalcognition.org/
Gaia Scerif
Affiliation:
Attention, Brain, and Cognitive Development Group, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3UD, United Kingdomgaia.scerif@psy.ox.ac.ukhttps://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/research/attention-brain-and-cognitive-development-group
Daniel Ansari
Affiliation:
Numerical Cognition Laboratory, Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canadarebecca.merkley@gmail.comdaniel.ansari@uwo.cahttp://www.numericalcognition.org/

Abstract

The theory put forward by Leibovich et al. of how children acquire a sense of number does not specify the mechanisms through which cognitive control plays a role in this process. We argue that visual attention and number word knowledge influence each other over development and contribute to the development of the concept of number.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amso, D. & Scerif, G. (2015) The attentive brain: Insights from developmental cognitive neuroscience. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 16(10):606–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cantrell, L., Kuwabara, M. & Smith, L. B. (2015b) Set size and culture influence children's attention to number. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 131:1937. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2014.10.010.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carey, S. (2001) Cognitive foundations of arithmetic: Evolution and ontogenisis. Mind & Language 16(1):3755. doi: 10.1111/1468-0017.00155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feigenson, L., Dehaene, S. & Spelke, E. (2004) Core systems of number. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 8(7):307–14. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2004.05.002.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, M. H. (2011) Interactive specialization: A domain-general framework for human functional brain development? Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 1(1):721.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaufman, E. L., Lord, M. W., Reese, T. W. & Volkmann, J. (1949) The discrimination of visual number. American Journal of Psychology 62:498525.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mix, K. S., Levine, S. C. & Newcombe, N. S. (2016) Development of quantitative thinking across correlated dimensions. In: Continuous issues in numerical cognition, ed. Henik, A., pp. 133. Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-801637-4.00001-9.Google Scholar
Negen, J. & Sarnecka, B. W. (2015) Is there really a link between exact-number knowledge and approximate number system acuity in young children? British Journal of Developmental Psychology 33(1):92105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Slusser, E. B. & Sarnecka, B. W. (2011) Find the picture of eight turtles: A link between children's counting and their knowledge of number word semantics. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 110(1):3851.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trick, L. M. & Pylyshyn, Z. W. (1994) Why are small and large numbers enumerated differently? A limited-capacity preattentive stage in vision. Psychological Review 101(1):80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed