ERIC Number: EJ730193
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Jul
Pages: 24
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0010-0277
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Six Does Not Just Mean "a Lot": Preschoolers See Number Words as Specific
Sarnecka, Barbara W.; Gelman, Susan A.
Cognition, v92 n3 p329-352 Jul 2004
This paper examines what children believe about unmapped number words--those number words whose exact meanings children have not yet learned. In Study one, 31 children (ages 2-10 to 4-2) judged that the application of "five" and "six" changes when numerosity changes, although they did not know that equal sets must have the same number word. In Study two, 15 children (ages 2-5 to 3-6) judged that "six" plus more is no longer "six," but that "a lot" plus more is still "a lot." Findings support the hypothesis that children treat number words as referring to specific, unique numerosities even before they know exactly which numerosity each word refers to.
Descriptors: Numbers, Number Concepts, Preschool Children, Language Acquisition, Cognitive Development, Numeracy, Mathematical Aptitude
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A