The perception of subset quantity and items in an environment with distractors in a population with mathematical learning difficulties

Abstract

People often perceive a quantity of specific objects that appear as part of an overall group of items (a subset). This study investigates this type of perception among a population with mathematical leaning difficulties (MLD). Sixty-two participants (mean age: 26.82) reported the general and subset quantity of items using a subset quantity detection task or a conjunction visual search task. MLD had difficulties perceiving both the general quantity presented and the subset quantity of items. They also had difficulties preforming a conjunction visual search task, even when the task did not involve numerical processing. MLD has spatial difficulties in the form of visual search and subset quantity detection. The current study suggests that MLD might experience greater difficulties in daily tasks, which might be related to those tasks (e.g., detecting the amount of forks among other items of silverware on the table).