Abstract
Numerical order and magnitude are important aspects of early number knowledge. We investigated children’s understanding of relational vocabulary for representing and communicating about order (before/after) and magnitude (bigger/smaller, more/less). In Experiment 1, 4- to 7-year-old children compared symbolic numbers, non-symbolic discrete quantities, and continuous amounts using relational words (N = 151). In Experiment 2, 4- to 6-year-old children made yes/no judgements of ordinal and magnitude relations between symbolic numbers (N = 60). Children showed lower performance with ordinal vocabulary compared to magnitude vocabulary (Experiment 1). Further, children were less likely to endorse the use of ordinal language for non-consecutive numbers than consecutive numbers, but showed no difference for magnitude language (e.g., 6 and 7 are bigger than 5, but only 6 comes after 5; Experiment 2). These results suggest a divergence in children’s understanding of magnitude and ordinal vocabulary, suggesting a dissociation between these two concepts and/or the language used to communicate about them.
Michelle Hurst
Assistant Professor
My research interests include mathematical development and variations in performance across contexts.