Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 7, 2026
Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques
Published on: June 30, 2020
Developing number-space associations: SNARC effects using a color discrimination task in 5-year-olds
Danielle Hoffmann1, Caroline Hornung, Romain Martin
1Educational Measurement and Applied Cognitive Science (EMACS) Unit, Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts, and Education (FLSHASE), University of Luxembourg, L-7201 Walferdange, Luxembourg.
The spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect, linking number magnitude to space, appears in children by 5.5 years. Exact number judgments, however, require more experience with digits, emerging slightly later.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Development
- Numerical Cognition
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Adults exhibit the spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect, where number representation is spatially oriented.
- Research on the early emergence of the SNARC effect in children is limited.
- Understanding the developmental trajectory of numerical-spatial associations is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the emergence of the SNARC effect in young children using a novel color judgment task.
- To compare the development of SNARC effects based on approximate magnitude (color task) versus exact magnitude (number task).
- To examine the relationship between Arabic digit proficiency and the development of numerical-spatial associations.
Main Methods:
- A color judgment task with Arabic digits was employed to assess SNARC effects in children.
- A magnitude judgment task requiring exact number knowledge was also administered.
- Participant age and proficiency with Arabic digits were recorded.
Main Results:
- A SNARC effect was observed in children as young as 5.5 years using the color judgment task.
- The SNARC effect for magnitude judgments emerged later, around 5.8 years.
- Proficiency with Arabic digits correlated with the emergence of the magnitude SNARC effect, but not the color SNARC effect.
Conclusions:
- An early, spatially oriented approximate magnitude representation from symbolic digits emerges during development.
- Access to a spatially oriented numerical representation for exact magnitude judgments depends on Arabic digit experience and schooling.
- These findings shed light on the developmental pathways of numerical cognition and spatial associations.
