Symbolic versus non-symbolic training for improving early numeracy in preschoolers at risk of developing difficulties...

Children's understanding of symbolic (e.g., Arabic digits) and non-symbolic (e.g., sets of dots) magnitudes plays a key role in their mathematics achievement, but only a few studies directly compared the effects of symbolic and non-symbolic interventions on mathematical abilities.

This longitudinal study compared the impact of symbolic and non-symbolic trainings in a group of preschoolers at risk of developing difficulties in mathematics (RM), analyzing their post-intervention performance both in early math skills (last preschool year) and in mathematics achievement in 1st grade.

Eighty-nine RM children and 66 typically developing controls were selected from among 604 preschoolers. RM children were assigned to three intervention conditions: no intervention, symbolic or non-symbolic intervention.

Results showed specific effects on tasks related to the training (e.g., effects of symbolic training on symbolic tasks) and some effects of generalization (e.g., effects of symbolic training on non-symbolic tasks). In 1st grade, children attending the symbolic intervention showed a mathematics achievement profile similar to that of typically developing peers.

These results suggest the importance of training the symbolic processing of numbers at preschool age, allowing at risk children to catch up with their peers before entering formal schooling.