TY  - JOUR
A1  - Shaki, Samuel
A1  - Fischer, Martin H.
A1  - Goebel, Silke M.
T1  - Direction counts A comparative study of spatially directional counting biases in cultures with different reading directions
JF  - Journal of experimental child psychology
N2  - Western adults associate small numbers with left space and large numbers with right space. Where does this pervasive spatial-numerical association come from? In this study, we first recorded directional counting preferences in adults with different reading experiences (left to right, right to left, mixed, and illiterate) and observed a clear relationship between reading and counting directions. We then recorded directional counting preferences in pre-schoolers and elementary school children from three of these reading cultures (left to right, right to left, and mixed). Culture-specific counting biases existed before reading acquisition in children as young as 3 years and were subsequently modified by early reading experience. Together, our results suggest that both directional counting and scanning activities contribute to number-space associations.
KW  - Counting
KW  - Numerical cognition
KW  - Reading direction
KW  - Number-space association
KW  - Mental Number
KW  - Cross-cultural
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2011.12.005
SN  - 0022-0965
VL  - 112
IS  - 2
SP  - 275
EP  - 281
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - San Diego
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Göbel, Silke M.
A1  - McCrink, Koleen
A1  - Fischer, Martin H.
A1  - Shaki, Samuel
T1  - Observation of directional storybook reading influences young children’s counting direction
JF  - Journal of experimental child psychology
N2  - Even before formal schooling, children map numbers onto space in a directional manner. The origin of this preliterate spatial–numerical association is still debated. We investigated the role of enculturation for shaping the directionality of the association between numbers and space, focusing on counting behavior in 3- to 5-year-old preliterate children. Two studies provide evidence that, after observing reading from storybooks (left-to-right or right-to-left reading) children change their counting direction in line with the direction of observed reading. Just observing visuospatial directional movements had no such effect on counting direction. Complementarily, we document that book illustrations, prevalent in children’s cultures, exhibit directionality that conforms to the direction of a culture’s written language. We propose that shared book reading activates spatiotemporal representations of order in young children, which in turn affect their spatial representation of numbers.
KW  - Counting direction
KW  - Cross-cultural
KW  - Mental number line
KW  - Reading
KW  - Spatial-numerical association
KW  - Preschool children
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2017.08.001
SN  - 0022-0965
SN  - 1096-0457
VL  - 166
SP  - 49
EP  - 66
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - New York
ER  -