Preschoolers sometimes know less than we think: The use of quantifiers to solve addition and subtraction tasks

Abstract

This study addressed the issue of whether young children’s success on small numerosity tasks is due to the use of perceptually based quantifier skills, such as subitizing, or to their precocious understanding of small numbers. Children 5 years of age were given a series of addition and subtraction trials that included large and small numerosity trials as well as trials on which the children were asked to imagine that objects were present. The imaginary trials had the same number of items as the small numerosity trials. Because perceptual representations were not available on the imaginary trials, the children’s solutions could not result from the use of perceptual quantifier skills. Performance on all imaginary trials was similar to performance on the large numerosity trials, and poorer than that on the small numerosity trials. Because it was difficult for young children to quantify on either large numerosity trials or imaginary trials, we conclude that our subjects’ superior performance on small numerosity trials was due to their use of quantifier skills, rather than to a precocious understanding.