Schwenk Christin, Sasanguie Delphine, Kuhn Jörg-Tobias, Kempe Sophia, Doebler Philipp, Holling Heinz
Institute of Psychology, University of Münster, Fliednerstraße 21, 48149 Münster, Germany.
Brain and Cognition, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102 - Box 3711, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences@Kulak, KU Leuven Kulak, Etienne Sabbelaan 53, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium.
Res Dev Disabil. 2017 May;64:152-167. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2017.03.003. Epub 2017 Apr 19.
Symbolic and non-symbolic magnitude representations, measured by digit or dot comparison tasks, are assumed to underlie the development of arithmetic skills. The comparison distance effect (CDE) has been suggested as a hallmark of the preciseness of mental magnitude representations. It implies that two magnitudes are harder to discriminate when the numerical distance between them is small, and may therefore differ in children with mathematical difficulties (MD), i.e. low mathematical achievement or dyscalculia. However, empirical findings on the CDE in children with MD are heterogeneous, and only few studies assess both symbolic and non-symbolic skills. This meta-analysis therefore integrates 44 symbolic and 48 non-symbolic response time (RT) outcomes reported in nineteen studies (N=1630 subjects, aged 6-14 years). Independent of age, children with MD show significantly longer mean RTs than typically achieving controls, particularly on symbolic (Hedges' g=0.75; 95% CI [0.51; 0.99]), but to a significantly lower extent also on non-symbolic (g=0.24; 95% CI [0.13; 0.36]) tasks. However, no group differences were found for the CDE. Extending recent work, these meta-analytical findings on children with MD corroborate the diagnostic importance of magnitude comparison speed in symbolic tasks. By contrast, the validity of CDE measures in assessing MD is questioned.
通过数字或圆点比较任务测量的符号和非符号数量表征被认为是算术技能发展的基础。比较距离效应（CDE）被认为是心理数量表征精确性的一个标志。它意味着当两个数量之间的数值距离较小时，它们更难区分，因此在有数学困难（MD）的儿童中可能会有所不同，即数学成绩低或患有计算障碍。然而，关于MD儿童CDE的实证研究结果并不一致，只有少数研究同时评估了符号和非符号技能。因此，这项荟萃分析整合了19项研究中报告的44个符号和48个非符号反应时间（RT）结果（N = 1630名受试者，年龄6 - 14岁）。与年龄无关，MD儿童的平均反应时间显著长于正常儿童，特别是在符号任务上（Hedges' g = 0.75；95% CI [0.51；0.99]），但在非符号任务上（g = 0.24；95% CI [0.13；0.36]）也有显著降低。然而，在CDE方面未发现组间差异。扩展最近的研究工作，这些关于MD儿童的荟萃分析结果证实了数量比较速度在符号任务中的诊断重要性。相比之下，CDE测量在评估MD方面的有效性受到质疑。
