Language Effects on Children's Nonverbal Number Line Estimations
Language Effects on Children's Nonverbal Number Line Estimations
复制标题
DOI：
10.1177/0022022111406026
复制
发表时间：
2011-05-01
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Moeller, Korbinian
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Helmreich, Iris;Zuber, Julia;Moeller, Korbinian
儿童的心理数字线通常被认为是独立于语言的，然而，这种独立性尚未得到研究。在这项跨文化研究中，我们研究了语言属性的影响，在意大利语和德语为母语的一年级学生的非语言版本的数字线任务。这两种语言之间的本质区别在于大多数德语多位数的反转属性（例如，48 ->“eight-and-forty”），而在意大利语中没有发现倒置。分析揭示了两种语言特有的差异在数字线任务：（a）一般来说，意大利儿童的估计比奥地利儿童的估计更准确，即使在控制一般认知能力的情况下。(b)意大利儿童表现特别好时，反演错误导致大的估计误差。总之，这些研究结果表明，儿童的心理数字线的组织确实受到语言属性的影响，即使在非语言设置。
The mental number line of children is usually assumed to be language-independent; however, this independency has not yet been studied. In this cross-cultural study, we examined the influence of language properties on a nonverbal version of the number line task in Italian- and German-speaking first graders. The essential difference between the two languages concerns the inversion property of most German multi-digit numbers (e.g., 48 -> "eight-and-forty"), whereas in Italian number-words no inversion is found. The analyses revealed two language-specific differences in the number line task: (a) Generally, the estimates of Italian children were more accurate than those of Austrian children, even when controlling for general cognitive abilities. (b) Italian children performed particularly better when inversion errors led to large estimation errors. In conclusion, these findings indicate that the organization of children's mental number line is indeed influenced by language properties even in nonverbal settings.