The plural counts: Inconsistent grammatical number hinders numerical development in preschoolers - A cross-linguistic study.

The role of grammar in numerical development, and particularly the role of grammatical number inflection, has already been well-documented in toddlerhood. It is unclear, however, whether the influence of grammatical language structure further extends to more complex later stages of numerical development. Here, we addressed this question by exploiting differences between Polish, which has a complex grammatical number paradigm, leading to a partially inconsistent mapping between numerical quantities and grammatical number, and German, which has a comparatively easy verbal paradigm: 151 Polish-speaking and 123 German-speaking kindergarten children were tested using a symbolic numerical comparison task. Additionally, counting skills (Give-a-Number and count-list), and mapping between non-symbolic (dot sets) and symbolic representations of numbers, as well as working memory (Corsi blocks and Digit span) were assessed. Based on the Give-a-Number and mapping tasks, the children were divided into subset-knowers, CP-knowers-non-mappers, and CP-knowers-mappers. Linguistic background was related to performance in several ways: Polish-speaking children expectedly progressed to the CP-knowers stage later than German children, despite comparable non-numerical capabilities, and even after this stage was achieved, they fared worse in the numerical comparison task. There were also meaningful differences in spatial-numerical mapping between the Polish and German groups. Our findings are in line with the theory that grammatical number paradigms influence. the development of representations and processing of numbers, not only at the stage of acquiring the meaning of the first number-words but at later stages as well, when dealing with symbolic numbers.

Preschoolers prior formal mathematics education engage numerical magnitude representation rather than counting principles in symbolic ±1 arithmetic: Evidence from the operational momentum effect.

In numerical cognition research, the operational momentum (OM) phenomenon (tendency to overestimate the results of addition and/or binding addition to the right side and underestimating subtraction and/or binding it to the left side) can help illuminate the most basic representations and processes of mental arithmetic and their development. This study is the first to demonstrate OM in symbolic arithmetic in preschoolers. It was modeled on Haman and Lipowska's (2021) non-symbolic arithmetic task, using Arabic numerals instead of visual sets. Seventy-seven children (4-7 years old) who know Arabic numerals and counting principles (CP), but without prior school math education, solved addition and subtraction problems presented as videos with one as the second operand. In principle, such problems may be difficult when involving a non-symbolic approximate number processing system, whereas in symbolic format they can be solved based solely on the successor/predecessor functions and knowledge of numerical orders, without reference to representation of numerical magnitudes. Nevertheless, participants made systematic errors, in particular, overestimating results of addition in line with the typical OM tendency. Moreover, subtraction and addition induced longer response times when primed with left- and right-directed movement, respectively, which corresponds to the reversed spatial form of OM. These results largely replicate those of non-symbolic task and show that children at early stages of mastering symbolic arithmetic may rely on numerical magnitude processing and spatial-numerical associations rather than newly-mastered CP and the concept of an exact number.

Moving attention along the mental number line in preschool age: Study of the operational momentum in 3- to 5-year-old children's non-symbolic arithmetic.

People tend to underestimate subtraction and overestimate addition outcomes and to associate subtraction with the left side and addition with the right side. These two phenomena are collectively labeled 'operational momentum' (OM) and thought to have their origins in the same mechanism of 'moving attention along the mental number line'. OM in arithmetic has never been tested in children at the preschool age, which is critical for numerical development. In this study, 3-5 years old were tested with non-symbolic addition and subtraction tasks. Their level of understanding of counting principles (CP) was assessed using the give-a-number task. When the second operand's cardinality was 5 or 6 (Experiment 1), the child's reaction time was shorter in addition/subtraction tasks after cuing attention appropriately to the right/left. Adding/subtracting one element (Experiment 2) revealed a more complex developmental pattern. Before acquiring CP, the children showed generalized overestimation bias. Underestimation in addition and overestimation in subtraction emerged only after mastering CP. No clear spatial-directional OM pattern was found, however, the response time to rightward/leftward cues in addition/subtraction again depended on stage of mastering CP. Although the results support the hypothesis about engagement of spatial attention in early numerical processing, they point to at least partial independence of the spatial-directional and magnitude OM. This undermines the canonical version of the number line-based hypothesis. Mapping numerical magnitudes to space may be a complex process that undergoes reorganization during the period of acquisition of symbolic representations of numbers. Some hypotheses concerning the role of spatial-numerical associations in numerical development are proposed.

Corrigendum: A Mental Odd-Even Continuum Account: Some Numbers May Be "More Odd" Than Others and Some Numbers May Be "More Even" Than Others.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01081.].

Gran Canarian Spanish Non-Continuant Voicing: Gradiency, Sex Differences and Perception.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This paper examines the process of postvocalic voicing in the Spanish of Gran Canaria from the point of view of language change. A perception-production study was designed to measure the extent of variation in speaker productions, explore the degree to which production is affected by perception and identify variables that can be considered markers of sound change in progress. METHODS: 20 native speakers of the dialect were asked to repeat auditory input data containing voiceless non-continuants with and without voicing. RESULTS: Input voicing has no effect on output pronunciations, but voicing is highly variable, with both phonetic and social factors involved. Most importantly, a clear lenition pattern was identified based on such indicators as consonant duration, intensity ratio, absence of burst and presence of formants, with the velar /k/ as the most affected segment. Furthermore, strong social implications were identified: voicing degrees and rates depend both on the level of education and on the gender of the speaker. CONCLUSION: The results of the study suggest that the interplay of external and internal factors must be investigated more thoroughly to better address the question of phonetic variation and phonologisation of contrasts in the context of language change.

A Mental Odd-Even Continuum Account: Some Numbers May Be "More Odd" Than Others and Some Numbers May Be "More Even" Than Others.

Numerical categories such as parity, i.e., being odd or even, have frequently been shown to influence how particular numbers are processed. Mathematically, number parity is defined categorically. So far, cognitive, and psychological accounts have followed the mathematical definition and defined parity as a categorical psychological representation as well. In this manuscript, we wish to test the alternative account that cognitively, parity is represented in a more gradual manner such that some numbers are represented as "more odd" or "more even" than other odd or even numbers, respectively. Specifically, parity processing might be influenced by more specific properties such as whether a number is a prime, a square number, a power of 2, part of a multiplication table, divisible by 4 or by 5, and many others. We suggest that these properties can influence the psychologically represented parity of a number, making it more or less prototypical for odd- or evenness. In the present study, we tested the influence of these numerical properties in a bimanual parity judgment task with auditorily presented two-digit numbers. Additionally, we further investigated the interaction of these numerical properties with linguistic factors in three language groups (English, German, and Polish). Results show significant effects on reaction times of the congruity of parity status between decade and unit digits, even if numerical magnitude and word frequency are controlled. We also observed other effects of the above specific numerical properties, such as multiplication attributes, which facilitated or interfered with the speed of parity judgment. Based on these effects of specific numerical properties we proposed and elaborated a parity continuum account. However, our cross-lingual study also suggests that parity representation and/or access seem to depend on the linguistic properties of the respective language or education and culture. Overall, the results suggest that the "perceived" parity is not the same as objective parity, and some numbers are more prototypical exemplars of their categories.

Over-the-counter medicine and dietary supplement consumption among academic youth in Poland.

Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines and dietary supplements are increasingly popular in Poland, potentially improving but also potentially posing a threat to public health. The study goal is to characterize and assess behaviors related to use of OTC medicines and dietary supplements among Polish university students. A questionnaire-based survey was performed with students divided into groups (gender, subjects studied, period of studies). The majority of students declared using the products, significantly more females and younger students in their early years. Females tended to be more attentive to product information. Students with a background in biological or medical sciences were also more attentive and less influenced by advertising. The authors present that the differences between the defined groups of students should be utilized in tailored educational activities, aiming to rationalize high consumption of OTC medicines and dietary supplements. Targeting other, especially low-socioeconomic and less-educated, groups should follow.