Difficulties in the ability to process symbolic numbers : where do they come from ?

Children with developmental dyscalculia (DD) seem to experience difficulties whenever they have to process numerical symbols. It has been hypothesized that these difficulties might result from impairments in accessing numerical magnitude from symbols. However, the nature of these impairments remain a matter of conjecture. In principle, the deficit could affect any process between the recognition of the symbol and the representation of its magnitude. Moreover, it is unclear whether such a deficit effectively persists after schooling. In the present research, we recruited adults with long-lasting mathematical difficulties and a performance below the normative mean in standardized arithmetic tests (-1.5 SD). We found they also experience difficulties in basic numerical tasks, such as the comparison of Arabic digits or auditory number words. Their slower performance could not be explained by a failure to recognize numerical symbols efficiently, as they showed normal performance in a lexical decision task, nor by a failure to access magnitude automatically, as they showed typical stroop-like interference from irrelevant numerical cues in a physical size judgement. As an alternative, we will consider the hypothesis of a higher-level deficit affecting the learning of ordinal relations between symbols or the integration of magnitude information from decades and units. In light of these new data, we will try to specify the cognitive processes behind the observed difficulties of adults with DD and discuss how these difficulties might differ from those observed in children with DD.

Affiliations

UCLouvainSSH/IPSY - Psychological Sciences Research Institute

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Andres, M., Masson, N., & Lepoittevin, S. (2023). Difficulties in the ability to process symbolic numbers : where do they come from ? Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society, Loughborough. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/23872