Abstract
The research examined the relationship between 65 5- to 7-year-olds’ finger gnosia, visuo-spatial working memory, and finger-use in solving single-digit addition problems. Their non-verbal IQ and basic reaction time were also assessed. Previous research has found significant changes in children’s representational abilities between 5 and 7 years. One aim of the research was to determine whether changes in finger representational abilities (finger gnosia) occur across these ages and whether they are associated with finger-use in computation. A second aim was to determine whether visuo-spatial working memory is associated with finger gnosia and computation abilities. We used latent class profile analysis to identify patterns of similarities and differences in finger gnosia and computation/finger-use abilities. The analysis yielded four finger gnosia subgroups that differed in finger representation ability. It also yielded four finger/computation subgroups that differed in the relationship between finger-use and computation success. Analysis revealed associations between computation finger-use/success subgroups, finger gnosia subgroups, and visuo-spatial working memory. A multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that finger gnosia subgroup membership and visuo-spatial working memory uniquely contribute to a model predicting finger-use in computation group membership. The results show that finger gnosia abilities change in the early school years, and that these changes are associated with the ability to use fingers to aid computation.
Highlights
Fingers have long been thought to play an important role in the development of counting and computation abilities (Butterworth, 2005)
The results demonstrate a strong relationship between finger gnosia subgroup membership and single-digit addition (SDA) finger-use/problem solving success subgroups
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FINGER GNOSIA, SDA FINGER-USE, AND COGNITIVE ABILITIES The findings showed that the non-motoric finger gnosia and computational finger-use subgroups were systematically associated with each other
Summary
Fingers have long been thought to play an important role in the development of counting and computation abilities (Butterworth, 2005). We suggest that at least two factors may constrain the development of finger-use in computation: namely, (1) developmental limitations in children’s ability to manipulate cognitive representations; and (2) individual differences in spatial processing capacities. Little work has investigated finger gnosia and its applications in terms of the 5- to 7-shift, at least two developmental stages may be proposed: (1) the acquisition of a flexible representation of fingers; and (2) a flexible ability to use fingers as a cognitive tool in the service of number cognition. It is unlikely that children who are yet to acquire a flexible representation of fingers will be able to use them effectively as computation aids
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