The development of spatial-numerical associations in preschoolers.

儿童的数学成绩既受领域技能的影响，也受领域通用技能的影响。数学发展的一个重要领域--一般关联是视觉空间技能，即产生、检索和转换视觉图像的能力。视觉空间技能较好的儿童通常也表现出更好的数学表现。有趣的是，最近的一项研究发现，视觉空间技能显著地预测了数学成绩，但这种关系的强度随着年龄的变化而变化很大。因此，研究这种关系在不同年龄阶段的出现和发展是至关重要的。支持视觉空间技能和数学成绩之间联系的一种机制是空间定向心理数字线的隐喻，它代表了数字大小的方向性。在西方文化中，数字通常表示在脑海中的数字线上，大小从左到右递增。近年来，关于数量、大小和空间之间的这种方向性联系是与生俱来的，还是随着发展而出现的，以及这种联系在多大程度上是由经验塑造的，一直存在着激烈的争论。虽然一些研究报告说，在新生儿中，少量数字与左侧空间关联，而较大数字与右侧空间关联，但其他反对天生缺陷的研究报告称，文盲成年人缺乏定向的空间-数字关联，在4至6岁的儿童中，随着阅读经验的增加，空间-数字关联增加，并受到参与者所处文化的阅读方向的影响。然而，关于2-4岁儿童空间-数字联系的存在/出现的研究存在一个明显的空白。这部分是由于缺乏适当和可靠的方法来评估这个年龄段的空间-数字联系。本博士的目的是通过回答以下研究问题来调查2-4岁儿童数字和空间之间的方向性联系的出现(如心理数字线的概念所描述的)：1.我们如何可靠地测量2-4岁儿童数字和空间之间的方向性联系？2.在这个年龄范围内，什么因素影响空间-数字联系的出现？3.空间-数字联系的发展(即，心理数字线)是否更普遍地与儿童的数字发展有关？

Children's mathematical achievement is influenced by both domain-specific and domain-general skills. One important domain-general correlate of mathematical development is visuo-spatial skills, the ability to generate, retrieve and transform visual images. Children with better visuo-spatial skills usually also show better mathematical performance. Interestingly, a recent study observed that visuo-spatial skills significantly predict mathematical achievement but that the strength of this relation varies considerably with age. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the emergence and development of this relationship across age.One mechanism that has been suggested to support the association between visuo-spatial skills and mathematical performance is the metaphor of a spatially oriented mental number line representing number magnitude directionally. In Western cultures, numbers are typically represented on a mental number line with magnitude increasing from left to right. In recent years there has been a lively debate about whether this directional association between number magnitude and space is innate or emerges with development and to what extent this association is shaped by experience. While some studies have reported spatial associations of small numbers with left and larger numbers with right already in newborns, other studies arguing against innateness have reported that directional spatial-numerical associations were absent in illiterate adults, increased with reading experience in 4 to 6 year-old children, and were shaped by the reading direction of the culture participants were living in. However, there is a clear gap in the research on the existence/emergence of spatial-numerical associations in children aged 2 to 4 years. This is partly due to a lack of appropriate and reliable methods to assessspatial-numerical associations in this age range.The aim of this PhD is to investigate the emergence of the directional association between numbers and space (as described by the idea of a mental number line) in children aged 2 to 4 years old by answering the following research questions:1. How can we reliably measure directional associations between number and space in 2 to 4 year-old children?2. What factors influence the emergence of spatial-numerical associations in this agerange?3. Is the development of spatial-numerical associations (i.e., the mental number line)associated with children's numerical development more generally?