Malykh Sergey, Kuzmina Yulia, Tikhomirova Tatiana
Department of Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.
Psychological Institute of Russian Academy of Education, Moscow, Russia.
Front Psychol. 2021 Mar 24;12:589305. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.589305. eCollection 2021.
The main aim of this study was to analyze the patterns of changes in Approximate Number Sense (ANS) precision from grade 1 (mean age: 7.84 years) to grade 9 (mean age: 15.82 years) in a sample of Russian schoolchildren. To fulfill this aim, the data from a longitudinal study of two cohorts of children were used. The first cohort was assessed at grades 1-5 (elementary school education plus the first year of secondary education), and the second cohort was assessed at grades 5-9 (secondary school education). ANS precision was assessed by accuracy and reaction time (RT) in a non-symbolic comparison test ("blue-yellow dots" test). The patterns of change were estimated via mixed-effect growth models. The results revealed that in the first cohort, the average accuracy increased from grade 1 to grade 5 following a non-linear pattern and that the rate of growth slowed after grade 3 (7-9 years old). The non-linear pattern of changes in the second cohort indicated that accuracy started to increase from grade 7 to grade 9 (13-15 years old), while there were no changes from grade 5 to grade 7. However, the RT in the non-symbolic comparison test decreased evenly from grade 1 to grade 7 (7-13 years old), and the rate of processing non-symbolic information tended to stabilize from grade 7 to grade 9. Moreover, the changes in the rate of processing non-symbolic information were not explained by the changes in general processing speed. The results also demonstrated that accuracy and RT were positively correlated across all grades. These results indicate that accuracy and the rate of non-symbolic processing reflect two different processes, namely, the maturation and development of a non-symbolic representation system.
本研究的主要目的是分析俄罗斯学童样本中从一年级（平均年龄：7.84岁）到九年级（平均年龄：15.82岁）近似数感（ANS）精度的变化模式。为实现这一目标，使用了对两组儿童进行纵向研究的数据。第一组在一至五年级（小学教育加初中一年级）接受评估，第二组在五至九年级（中学教育）接受评估。通过非符号比较测试（“蓝黄点”测试）中的准确性和反应时间（RT）来评估ANS精度。通过混合效应增长模型估计变化模式。结果显示，在第一组中，平均准确性从一年级到五年级呈非线性增长，三年级（7 - 9岁）后增长速度放缓。第二组的非线性变化模式表明，准确性从七年级到九年级（13 - 15岁）开始增加，而从五年级到七年级没有变化。然而，非符号比较测试中的RT从一年级到七年级（7 - 13岁）均匀下降，处理非符号信息的速度从七年级到九年级趋于稳定。此外，处理非符号信息速度的变化不能用一般处理速度的变化来解释。结果还表明，所有年级的准确性和RT均呈正相关。这些结果表明，准确性和非符号处理速度反映了两个不同的过程，即非符号表征系统的成熟和发展。
