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Symbolic and Non-Symbolic Number Magnitude Processing in Children with Developmental Dyscalculia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Danilka Castro Cañizares ,
Vivian Reigosa Crespo  and
Eduardo González Alemañy
Danilka Castro Cañizares*
Affiliation:
Centro de Neurociencias (Cuba)
Vivian Reigosa Crespo
Affiliation:
Centro de Neurociencias (Cuba)
Eduardo González Alemañy
Affiliation:
Centro de Neurociencias (Cuba)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Danilka Castro Cañizares. Centro de Neurociencias de Cuba. Ave 25 No. 15202 esq. 158. Cubanacán, Playa. Ciudad Habana. (Cuba). E-mail: danilkac@cneuro.edu.cu
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Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate if children with Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) exhibit a general deficit in magnitude representations or a specific deficit in the connection of symbolic representations with the corresponding analogous magnitudes. DD was diagnosed using a timed arithmetic task. The experimental magnitude comparison tasks were presented in non-symbolic and symbolic formats. DD and typically developing (TD) children showed similar numerical distance and size congruity effects. However, DD children performed significantly slower in the symbolic task. These results are consistent with the access deficit hypothesis, according to which DD children's deficits are caused by difficulties accessing magnitude information from numerical symbols rather than in processing numerosities per se.

El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar si los niños con Discalculia del Desarrollo (DD) presentan un déficit general en la representación de las magnitudes o un déficit específico en la conexión de las representaciones simbólicas con sus correspondientes magnitudes análogas. La DD fue diagnosticada mediante una tarea aritmética con control del tiempo de reacción. Las tareas experimentales de comparación de magnitudes se presentaron en formato no-simbólico y simbólico. Los resultados muestran que en los discalcúlicos la representación numérica parece estar intacta, lo cual se expresa en efectos de distancia numérica y congruencia de la magnitud, similares a los que exhiben los niños con un desarrollo típico. Las diferencias respecto a este grupo se encuentran solo en la velocidad de procesamiento en las tareas simbólicas. Se concluye que los datos se ajustan a la hipótesis del déficit en el acceso, por lo que las dificultades de los niños discalcúlicos parecen producto de un trastorno en la conexión entre las representaciones simbólicas y las análogas y no en la representación numérica per se.

Keywords

size congruity effectdistance effectdyscalculiareaction timesize effectdiscalculiaefecto de distanciaefecto de congruencia de la magnitudefecto de magnitudtiempo de reacción
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , November 2012 , pp. 952 - 966
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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