Previous research has demonstrated a link between children's ability to name canonical finger configurations and their mathematical abilities. This study aimed to investigate the nature of this association, specifically exploring whether the relationship is skill and handshape specific and identifying the underlying mechanisms involved.…

Previous studies have suggested that there is a left-to-right mental number line, which is based on individuals responding faster when a smaller magnitude is presented on the left visual field and a larger magnitude is presented on the right visual field. This study examined whether the Spatial-Numerical Associations could influence individuals'…

The metaphor of the mental number line accounts for numerous empirical effects of spatial-numerical associations. In the present study, we aimed at investigating directional spatial-numerical associations reflected by SNARC-like digit-direction and sign-direction congruency effects as well as the sign-digit compatibility effect when 6th graders…

Pre-algebra mathematical competencies were assessed for a large and diverse sample of sixth graders (n = 1,926), including whole number and fractions arithmetic, conceptual understanding of equality and fractions magnitudes, and the fractions number line. The goal was to determine if there were clusters of students with similar patterns of…

The development of math reasoning and 3-d mental rotation skills are intertwined. However, it is currently not understood how these cognitive processes develop and interact longitudinally at the within-person level -- either within or across genders. In this study, 553 students (52% girls) were assessed from fifth to seventh grades on 3-d mental…

Research has demonstrated that providing labels helps children notice key features of examples. Much less is known about how different labels impact children's ability to make inferences about the structure underlying mathematical notation. We tested the impact of labeling decimals such as 0.34 using formal place-value labels ("3 tenths and 4…

Numerical estimation has been used to study how children mentally represent numbers for many years (e.g., Siegler & Opfer, 2003). However, these studies have always presented children with positive numbers and positive number lines. Children's mental representation of negative numbers has never been addressed. The present study tested children…