The effect of different methods to construct non-symbolic stimuli in numerosity estimation and comparison

Smets, Karolien; Sasanguie, Delphine; Szűcs, Dénes; Reynvoet, Bert

doi:10.1080/20445911.2014.996568

Cited by 65 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…A recent study by Smets, Sasanguie, Szücs, and Reynvoet (2015) however suggested that estimation tasks are not significantly altered by differences in visual cues, contrarily to discrimination tasks that are highly biased by how the visual cues were manipulated (see also Smets, Gebuis, Defever, & Reynvoet, 2014). More generally, visuospatial processing are particularly problematic in the discrimination task, as only a rough estimate of the numerosity of each collection is needed to accurately perform the task (Gebuis & Reynvoet, 2012a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Approximate Number System: no relation between numerical comparison and estimation tasks

Guillaumé

Gevers

2015

Psychological Research

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Whether our general numerical skills and the mathematical knowledge that we acquire at school are entwined is a debated issue, which many researchers are still striving to investigate.The findings reported in the literature are actually inconsistent; some studies emphasised the existence of a relationship between the acuity of the Approximate Number System (ANS) and arithmetic competence, while some others did not observe any significant correlation. One potential explanation of the discrepancy might stem from the evaluation of the ANS itself. In the present study, we correlated two measures used to index ANS acuity with arithmetic performance. These measures were the Weber fraction (w), computed from a numerical comparison task and the Coefficient of Variation (CV), computed from a numerical estimation task. Arithmetic performance correlated with estimation CV but not with comparison w. We further investigated the meaning of this result by taking the relationship between w and CV into account. We expected a tight relation as both these measures are believed to assess ANS acuity. Crucially however, w and CV did not correlate with each other. Moreover, the value of w was modulated by the congruity of the relation between numerical magnitude and nonnumerical visual cues, potentially accounting for the lack of correlation between the measures. Our findings thus challenge the overuse of w to assess ANS acuity and more generally put into question the relevance of correlating this measure with arithmetic without any deeper understanding of what they are really indexing.Abstract word count: 243 words.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Approximate Number System: no relation between numerical comparison and estimation tasks

Guillaumé

Gevers

2015

Psychological Research

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“…The default radius of the dots was 60 pixels and the maximum variability in size between the dots was +/−35%. Previous research has found that non-numerical aspects of an array can affect numerical performance (Clayton, Gilmore, & Inglis, 2015; Gebuis & Reynvoet, 2012; Smets, Sasanguie, Szücs, & Reynvoet, 2015). As such, on half of the trials the two arrays were equated for individual dot size (i.e., the average size of the dots in each collection was equal).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The precision of mapping between number words and the approximate number system predicts children’s formal math abilities

Libertus

Odic

Feigenson

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

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Children can represent number in at least two ways: by using their non-verbal, intuitive Approximate Number System (ANS), and by using words and symbols to count and represent numbers exactly. Further, by the time they are five years old, children can map between the ANS and number words, as evidenced by their ability to verbally estimate numbers of items without counting. How does the quality of the mapping between approximate and exact numbers relate to children’s math abilities? The role of the ANS-number word mapping in math competence remains controversial for at least two reasons. First, previous work has not examined the relation between verbal estimation and distinct subtypes of math abilities. Second, previous work has not addressed how distinct components of verbal estimation – mapping accuracy and variability – might each relate to math performance. Here, we address these gaps by measuring individual differences in ANS precision, verbal number estimation, and formal and informal math abilities in 5- to 7-year-old children. We found that verbal estimation variability, but not estimation accuracy, predicted formal math abilities even when controlling for age, expressive vocabulary, and ANS precision, and that it mediated the link between ANS precision and overall math ability. These findings suggest that variability in the ANS-number word mapping may be especially important for formal math abilities.

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“…In particular, the visual characteristics of dot arrays have been shown to have substantial impact on participants’ performance (Clayton, Gilmore, & Inglis, 2015; DeWind & Brannon, 2016; Gebuis & Reynvoet, 2012; Smets, Sasanguie, Szücs, & Reynvoet, 2015). Studies have shown that performance on dot comparison tasks is dependent on how the visual characteristics of arrays are controlled and, in particular, how many visual cues are controlled (Gebuis & Reynvoet, 2012; Smets et al., 2015). Researchers use a variety of methods to control for visual characteristics in the construction of dot arrays (e.g.…”

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confidence: 99%

Congruency effects in dot comparison tasks: convex hull is more important than dot area

Gilmore

Cragg

Hogan

et al. 2016

Journal of Cognitive Psychology

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The dot comparison task, in which participants select the more numerous of two dot arrays, has become the predominant method of assessing Approximate Number System (ANS) acuity. Creation of the dot arrays requires the manipulation of visual characteristics, such as dot size and convex hull. For the task to provide a valid measure of ANS acuity, participants must ignore these characteristics and respond on the basis of number. Here, we report two experiments that explore the influence of dot area and convex hull on participants’ accuracy on dot comparison tasks. We found that individuals’ ability to ignore dot area information increases with age and display time. However, the influence of convex hull information remains stable across development and with additional time. This suggests that convex hull information is more difficult to inhibit when making judgements about numerosity and therefore it is crucial to control this when creating dot comparison tasks.

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The effect of different methods to construct non-symbolic stimuli in numerosity estimation and comparison

Cited by 65 publications

References 48 publications

Assessing the Approximate Number System: no relation between numerical comparison and estimation tasks

Assessing the Approximate Number System: no relation between numerical comparison and estimation tasks

The precision of mapping between number words and the approximate number system predicts children’s formal math abilities

Congruency effects in dot comparison tasks: convex hull is more important than dot area

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