Pina Violeta, Castillo Alejandro, Cohen Kadosh Roi, Fuentes Luis J
Departamento de Psicología Básica y Metodología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia Spain.
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford UK.
Front Psychol. 2015 Mar 31;6:375. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00375. eCollection 2015.
Previous studies have suggested that numerical processing relates to mathematical performance, but it seems that such relationship is more evident for intentional than for automatic numerical processing. In the present study we assessed the relationship between the two types of numerical processing and specific mathematical abilities in a sample of 109 children in grades 1-6. Participants were tested in an ample range of mathematical tests and also performed both a numerical and a size comparison task. The results showed that numerical processing related to mathematical performance only when inhibitory control was involved in the comparison tasks. Concretely, we found that intentional numerical processing, as indexed by the numerical distance effect in the numerical comparison task, was related to mathematical reasoning skills only when the task-irrelevant dimension (the physical size) was incongruent; whereas automatic numerical processing, indexed by the congruency effect in the size comparison task, was related to mathematical calculation skills only when digits were separated by small distance. The observed double dissociation highlights the relevance of both intentional and automatic numerical processing in mathematical skills, but when inhibitory control is also involved.
先前的研究表明，数字处理与数学成绩有关，但这种关系似乎在有意数字处理中比在自动数字处理中更为明显。在本研究中，我们评估了109名1至6年级儿童样本中两种数字处理类型与特定数学能力之间的关系。参与者接受了广泛的数学测试，并同时执行了数字和大小比较任务。结果表明，只有当抑制控制参与比较任务时，数字处理才与数学成绩相关。具体而言，我们发现，在数字比较任务中由数字距离效应所指示的有意数字处理，仅在任务无关维度（物理大小）不一致时才与数学推理技能相关；而在大小比较任务中由一致性效应所指示的自动数字处理，仅在数字间隔较小时才与数学计算技能相关。观察到的双重分离突出了有意和自动数字处理在数学技能中的相关性，但前提是也涉及抑制控制。
