Department of Sport Science, University of Konstanz, Germany.
Department of Educational Sciences, University of Regensburg, Germany.
Acta Psychol (Amst). 2022 Jun;226:103576. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103576. Epub 2022 Apr 4.
Facets of fine motor skills (FMS) and finger gnosia have been reported to predict young children's numerical competencies, possibly by affecting early finger counting experiences. Furthermore, neuronal connections between areas involved in finger motor movement, finger gnosia, and numerical processing have been posited. In this study, FMS and finger gnosia were investigated as predictors for preschool children's performance in numerical tasks. Preschool children (N = 153) completed FMS tasks measuring finger agility and finger dexterity as well as a non-motor finger gnosia task. Furthermore, children completed numerical tasks that involved finger use (i.e., finger counting and finger montring), and tasks that did not (i.e., picture-aided calculation and number line estimation). To control for possible confounding influences of domain general skills, we included measures of reasoning and spatial working memory. We found associations between FMS and both finger counting and calculation, but not finger montring. In contrast, finger gnosia was only associated with finger montring, but not finger counting and calculation. Surprisingly, there were no associations between FMS or finger gnosia with number line estimation. Findings highlight that the relationship between finger gnosia, FMS, and numerical skills is specific to task requirements. Possible implications are discussed.
精细运动技能（FMS）和手指认知的各个方面都被报道可以预测幼儿的数学能力，可能是通过影响早期的手指计数经验。此外，还提出了涉及手指运动、手指认知和数字处理的区域之间的神经元连接。在这项研究中，FMS 和手指认知被视为预测学龄前儿童在数字任务中表现的指标。学龄前儿童（N=153）完成了 FMS 任务，测量手指敏捷度和手指灵巧度，以及非运动手指认知任务。此外，儿童还完成了涉及手指使用的数字任务（即手指计数和手指比划）和不涉及手指使用的任务（即图片辅助计算和数字线估计）。为了控制可能存在的一般领域技能的混杂影响，我们包括了推理和空间工作记忆的测量。我们发现 FMS 与手指计数和计算都有联系，但与手指比划没有联系。相比之下，手指认知仅与手指比划有关，而与手指计数和计算无关。令人惊讶的是，FMS 或手指认知与数字线估计之间没有关联。研究结果强调了手指认知、FMS 和数字技能之间的关系是特定于任务要求的。讨论了可能的影响。
