RESEARCH ARTICLE
Decomposed but Parallel Processing of Two-Digit Numbers in 1st Graders
S. Pixner1, 2, #, K. Moeller2, 3, #, *, J. Zuber2, 3, H.-C. Nuerk2, 3
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2009Volume: 2
First Page: 40
Last Page: 48
Publisher ID: TOPSYJ-2-40
DOI: 10.2174/1874350100902010040
Article History:
Received Date: 02/12/2008Revision Received Date: 19/02/2009
Acceptance Date: 16/05/2009
Electronic publication date: 12/8/2009
Collection year: 2009
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
It has been suggested that decomposed processing of two-digit numbers develops from sequential (left-to-right) to parallel with age (Nuerk et al., 2004). However, task demands may have provoked sequential processing as a specific rather than a universal processing style. In the current study a standard unit-decade compatibility effect observed in two-digit number magnitude comparison indicated that first graders were already able to process the single digit magnitudes of tens and units separately and in parallel. Consequently, previous findings of sequential processing may be specific for stimulus characteristics in which such a processing style is useful. It is concluded that even first graders seem to be able to adapt their individual processing styles depending on stimulus properties. More generally, this suggests that the manner by which children process two-digit numbers is strategically adaptive rather than fixed at a particular developmental stage.
