Children’s understanding of relative quantities: Probability judgement and proportion matching

Abstract

Understanding relative quantities is crucial for many formal mathematical and everyday experiences, and its development has been examined using both probability judgment and proportion matching frameworks. The current study examines individual difference and developmental patterns that emerge within and between these frameworks, using computerized tasks administered within-subjects to a socio-demographically diverse sample of elementary school students (N = 96, 52 female, M_age = 8.56-years, 5.1–12.4) between kindergarten and fifth-grade. The results indicate that performance between the two task frameworks was correlated, and that age was significantly correlated with performance on both tasks. There were also differences across tasks, and children were overall more successful in their probability judgements than proportion matching. The findings, therefore, indicate some individual difference and cognitive developmental commonality across frameworks, but also that they are differentially effective in prompting relative quantity problem-solving strategies, which has implications for developmental research and theory and suggests a more nuanced approach to when children understand relative quantities is needed.