The relationship between SFON and mathematical language: The mediating role of magnitude representation

IF 1.9 3区心理学 Q3 PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL

Cognitive Development Pub Date : 2025-10-01 Epub Date: 2025-10-21 DOI:10.1016/j.cogdev.2025.101638

Valerie Yijie He , Winnie Wai Lan Chan

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

When seeing some objects, some children may quickly attend to their quantity (how many are there?), whereas others may attend to their color or size. The self-initiated tendency to attend to the quantity of objects in the environment is called spontaneous focusing on numerosity or SFON. Previous studies have shown that a higher SFON tendency predicts better numerical performance. However, it remains unexplored whether SFON is associated with mathematical language in particular, which is the language used for describing mathematical concepts. We examined this question in a sample of 176 kindergarteners studying in Hong Kong. Results showed that SFON was related to mathematical language via two mediators, namely non-symbolic and symbolic magnitude representations. Specifically, children who had a higher SFON tendency showed higher accuracy in comparing non-symbolic magnitude (i.e., dots), which was in turn associated with higher accuracy in comparing symbolic magnitude (i.e., numerals) and, finally, better knowledge of mathematical language. Our findings reveal, for the first time, the importance of SFON in children’s mathematical language. They offer important insights into how to support children’s acquisition of mathematical language.

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SFON与数学语言的关系：数量级表征的中介作用

当看到一些物体时，有些孩子可能会很快注意到它们的数量（有多少？），而另一些孩子可能会注意到它们的颜色或大小。这种自发地关注环境中物体数量的倾向被称为自发地关注数量（SFON）。先前的研究表明，更高的son趋势预示着更好的数值性能。然而，SFON是否与数学语言（用于描述数学概念的语言）有特别的联系仍未被探索。我们以176名在香港就读的幼稚园儿童为样本，调查了这个问题。结果表明，sdn与数学语言之间存在非符号量表征和符号量表征两种中介关系。具体来说，具有较高SFON倾向的儿童在比较非符号大小（即点）方面表现出更高的准确性，这反过来又与比较符号大小（即数字）的更高准确性相关，最后，更好的数学语言知识。我们的研究结果首次揭示了SFON在儿童数学语言中的重要性。他们对如何支持儿童习得数学语言提供了重要的见解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Cognitive Development Multiple-

CiteScore

3.20

自引率

5.60%

发文量

114

期刊介绍： Cognitive Development contains the very best empirical and theoretical work on the development of perception, memory, language, concepts, thinking, problem solving, metacognition, and social cognition. Criteria for acceptance of articles will be: significance of the work to issues of current interest, substance of the argument, and clarity of expression. For purposes of publication in Cognitive Development, moral and social development will be considered part of cognitive development when they are related to the development of knowledge or thought processes.