Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 24, 2026

Multimedia Battery for Assessment of Cognitive and Basic Skills in Mathematics BM-PROMA
Published on: August 28, 2021
Symbolic Numerical Magnitude Processing Is as Important to Arithmetic as Phonological Awareness Is to Reading
Kiran Vanbinst1, Daniel Ansari2, Pol Ghesquière1
1Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Abstract:
In this article, we tested, using a 1-year longitudinal design, whether symbolic numerical magnitude processing or children's numerical representation of Arabic digits, is as important to arithmetic as phonological awareness is to reading. Children completed measures of symbolic comparison, phonological awareness, arithmetic, reading at the start of third grade and the latter two were retested at the start of fourth grade. Cross-sectional and longitudinal correlations indicated that symbolic comparison was a powerful domain-specific predictor of arithmetic and that phonological awareness was a unique predictor of reading. Crucially, the strength of these independent associations was not significantly different. This indicates that symbolic numerical magnitude processing is as important to arithmetic development as phonological awareness is to reading and suggests that symbolic numerical magnitude processing is a good candidate for screening children at risk for developing mathematical difficulties.
Related Concept Videos
Real Number Operations
Numerical Calculations
The solution to a problem is obtained using different methods. While manually solving algebraic symbols is one of the most common methods, the graphical method is often preferred. Computers...
Significant Figures in Calculations
Orders of Magnitude
The order of magnitude is simply a way of rounding numbers consistently to the nearest power of 10. This makes doing rough mental math...
Complex Numbers
Arithmetic Mean
When all the values in a data set are not unique, the sum in the numerator can be calculated by multiplying each distinct value by its frequency.
Sometimes, the arithmetic mean of a sample can be affected by a few data points...

