Finger counting, finger number gesturing, and basic numerical skills: A cross-sectional study in 3- to 5-year-olds

Recent evidence suggests that using finger-based strategies is beneficial for the acquisition of basic numerical skills. There are basically two finger-based strategies to be distinguished: (a) finger counting (i.e., extending single fingers successively) and (b) finger number gesturing (i.e., extending fingers simultaneously to represent magnitudes). In this study, we investigated both spontaneous and prompted finger counting and finger number gesturing as well as their contribution to basic numerical skills in 3- to 5-year-olds (N = 156). Results revealed that only 6% of children spontaneously used their fingers for counting when asked to name a specific number of animals, whereas 59% applied finger number gesturing to show their age. This indicates that the spontaneous use of finger-based strategies depends heavily on the specific context. Moreover, children performed significantly better in prompted finger counting than in finger number gesturing, suggesting that both strategies build on each other. Finally, both prompted finger counting and finger number gesturing significantly and individually predicted counting, cardinal number knowledge, and basic arithmetic. These results indicate that finger counting and finger number gesturing follow and positively relate to numerical development.