Arithmetic Training Does Not Improve Approximate Number System Acuity

The approximate number system (ANS) is thought to support non-symbolic representations of numerical magnitudes in humans. Recently much debate has focused on the causal direction for an observed relation between ANS acuity and arithmetic fluency. Here we investigate if arithmetic training can improv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in psychology 2016-10, Vol.7, p.1634-1634
Main Authors: Lindskog, Marcus, Winman, Anders, Poom, Leo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
approximate number system
Arithmetic fluency
numbers
Psychology
short-term memory
training
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Summary:The approximate number system (ANS) is thought to support non-symbolic representations of numerical magnitudes in humans. Recently much debate has focused on the causal direction for an observed relation between ANS acuity and arithmetic fluency. Here we investigate if arithmetic training can improve ANS acuity. We show with an experimental training study consisting of six 45-min training sessions that although feedback during arithmetic training improves arithmetic performance substantially, it does not influence ANS acuity. Hence, we find no support for a causal link where symbolic arithmetic training influences ANS acuity. Further, although short-term number memory is likely involved in arithmetic tasks we did not find that short-term memory capacity for numbers, measured by a digit-span test, was effected by arithmetic training. This suggests that the improvement in arithmetic fluency may have occurred independent of short-term memory efficiency, but rather due to long-term memory processes and/or mental calculation strategy development. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
ISSN:1664-1078
1664-1078
DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01634