From spontaneous focusing on numerosity to mathematics achievement: The mediating role of non-symbolic number processing and mapping between symbolic and non-symbolic representations of number

Young children who readily demonstrate a self-initiated orientation, or spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON), perform better in mathematics in later years. To further our understanding of the mechanisms behind this relation, the present longitudinal study with 150 Chinese preschoolers examined the potential mediating role of non-symbolic number processing and mapping between symbolic and non-symbolic representations of number. Mediation analysis indicates two independent pathways leading from SFON to math achievement—namely the non-symbolic number processing pathway and the number mapping pathway—providing a more comprehensive model to explain the predictability of SFON on children’s math achievement. Our findings indicate that children with a stronger tendency to focus on the cardinal information of the environment are better at processing set sizes as well as mapping non-symbolic quantity information onto numbers, leading to better math achievement.