Putting a Finger on Numerical Development – Reviewing the Contributions of Kindergarten Finger Gnosis and Fine Motor Skills to Numerical Abilities

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Roberta Barrocas¹  Stephanie Roesch¹  Caterina Gawrilow²  Korbinian Moeller¹ 

[1]Leibniz-Institut fuer Wissensmedien

[2]Department of Psychology, LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen

[3]Centre for Mathematical Cognition, Loughborough University, United Kingdom

关键词: finger gnosis;    fine motor skills;    finger counting;    numerical development;    embodied numerosity;    finger-based numerical strategies;    mathematics achievement;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01012

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The well-documented association between fingers and numbers is not only based on the observation that most children use their fingers for counting and initial calculation, but also on extensive behavioral and neuro-functional evidence. In this article, we critically review developmental studies evaluating the association between finger sensorimotor skills (i.e., finger gnosis and fine motor skills) and numerical abilities. In sum, reviewed studies were found to provide evidential value and indicated that both finger gnosis and fine motor skills predict measures of counting, number system knowledge, number magnitude processing, and calculation ability. Therefore, specific and unique contributions of both finger gnosis and fine motor skills to the development of numerical skills seem to be substantiated. Through critical consideration of the reviewed evidence, we suggest that the association of finger gnosis and fine motor skills with numerical abilities may emerge from a combination of functional and redeployment mechanisms, in which the early use of finger-based numerical strategies during childhood might be the developmental process by which number representations become intertwined with the finger sensorimotor system, which carries an innate predisposition for said association to unfold. Further research is nonetheless necessary to clarify the causal mechanisms underlying this association.

【 授权许可】

CC BY