University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA.
Dev Sci. 2020 Sep;23(5):e12944. doi: 10.1111/desc.12944. Epub 2020 Apr 3.
A common measure of number word understanding is the give-N task. Traditionally, to receive credit for understanding a number, N, children must understand that N does not apply to other set sizes (e.g. a child who gives three when asked for 'three' but also when asked for 'four' would not be credited with knowing 'three'). However, it is possible that children who correctly provide the set size directly above their knower level but also provide that number for other number words ('N + 1 givers') may be in a partial, transitional knowledge state. In an integrative analysis including 191 preschoolers, subset knowers who correctly gave N + 1 at pretest performed better at posttest than did those who did not correctly give N + 1. This performance was not reflective of 'full' knowledge of N + 1, as N + 1 givers performed worse than traditionally coded knowers of that set size on separate measures of number word understanding within a given timepoint. Results support the idea of graded representations (Munakata, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 5, 309-315, 2001.) in number word development and suggest traditional approaches to coding the give-N task may not completely capture children's knowledge.
一种常用的数字词理解衡量标准是给 N 任务。传统上，要想理解一个数字 N，孩子必须理解 N 不适用于其他集合大小（例如，一个孩子在被问到“三个”时给了三个，但在被问到“四个”时也给了三个，那么他不会被认为知道“三个”）。然而，那些正确提供直接高于其认知水平的集合大小但也为其他数字词提供该数字的孩子（“N+1 给出者”）可能处于部分、过渡的知识状态。在一项包括 191 名学龄前儿童的综合分析中，在预测试中正确给出 N+1 的子集认知者在测试后表现优于那些没有正确给出 N+1 的认知者。这种表现并不反映 N+1 的“完全”知识，因为 N+1 给出者在给定时间点内，在数字词理解的其他单独测量中表现不如该集合大小的传统认知者。结果支持了数量词发展中的分级表示（Munakata，Trends in Cognitive Sciences，5，309-315，2001.）的观点，并表明传统的给 N 任务编码方法可能无法完全捕捉孩子的知识。
