Göbel, Silke Melanie orcid.org/0000-0001-8845-6026, McCrink, Koleen, Fischer, Martin H et al. (1 more author) (2018) Observation of Directional Storybook Reading Influences Young Children’s Counting Direction. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. pp. 49-66. ISSN 0022-0965
Abstract
Even before formal schooling, children map numbers onto space in a directional manner. The origin of this preliterate spatial–numerical association is still debated. We investigated the role of enculturation for shaping the directionality of the association between numbers and space, focusing on counting behavior in 3- to 5-year-old preliterate children. Two studies provide evidence that, after observing reading from storybooks (left-to-right or right-to-left reading) children change their counting direction in line with the direction of observed reading. Just observing visuospatial directional movements had no such effect on counting direction. Complementarily, we document that book illustrations, prevalent in children's cultures, exhibit directionality that conforms to the direction of a culture's written language. We propose that shared book reading activates spatiotemporal representations of order in young children, which in turn affect their spatial representation of numbers.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 Elsevier Inc. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Counting direction,Cross-cultural,Mental number line,Preschool children,Reading,Spatial–numerical association |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Psychology (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 01 Sep 2017 08:45 |
Last Modified: | 21 Jan 2025 17:27 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2017.08.001 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.jecp.2017.08.001 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:120745 |
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