儿童数控技能(childrens numerical skills)

peopleappeartoborntocompute.thenumericalskillsofchildrendevelopsoearlyandsoinexorablythatitiseasytoimagineaninternalclockofmathematicalmaturityguidingtheirgrowth.notlongafterlearningtowalkandtalk,theycansetthetablewithimpressaccuracy---oneknife,onespoon,onefork,foreachofthefivechairs.

soontheyarecapableofnothingthattheyhaveplacedfiveknives,spoonsandforksonthetableand,abitlater,thatthisamountstofifteenpiecesofsilverware.havingthusmasteredaddition,theymoveontosubtraction.itseemsalmostreasonabletoexpectthatifachildweresecludedonadesertislandatbirthandretrievedsevenyearslater,heorshecouldenterasecondenterasecond-grademathematicsclasswithoutanyseriousproblemsofintellectualadjustment.

ofcourse,thetruthisnotsosimple.thiscentury,theworkofcognitivepsychologistshasilluminatedthesubtleformsofdailylearningonwhichintellectualprogressdepends.childrenwereobservedastheyslowlygrasped-----or,asthecasemightbe,bumpedinto-----conceptsthatadultstakeforquantityisunchangedaswaterpoursfromashortglassintoatallthinone.

psychologistshavesincedemonstratedthatyoungchildren,askedtocountthepencilsinapile,readilyreportthenumberofblueorredpencils,butmustbecoaxedintofindingthetotal.suchstudieshavesuggestedthattherudimentsofmathematicsaremasteredgradually,andwitheffort.theyhavealsosuggestedthattheveryconceptofabstractnumbers------theideaofaoneness,

atwoness,athreenessthatappliestoanyclassofobjectsandisaprerequisitefordoinganythingmoremathematicallydemandingthansettingatable-----isitselffarfrominnate