Typical Mathematical Education Cannot Predict Non-Verbal Number Sense

Abstract

Formal education would promote symbolic number processing ability, but the relationship between non-symbolic number sense and mathematical education remains controversial. The current investigation hypothesized that non-symbolic number sense is independent from the limited human experience of mathematical education, while symbolic number processing could be influenced by related closely to mathematical education. Experiment 1 compared both non-symbolic number sense and arithmetic computation of undergraduates majoring in STEM fields and humanities. Experiment 2 compared homologous undergraduates from China and Kyrgyzstan in non-symbolic number sense and mathematical cognitive processing. Both of two experiments found that mathematical education was significantly associated with symbolic mathematics, but not with non-symbolic number sense. The results suggest that while mathematical education might improve symbolic mathematics, it does not alter non-symbolic number sense.