MCLS 2022

Non-spontaneous finger use: a way to improve calculation in young children regardless of working memory and manual motor imitation skills

The reduction of inequalities in mathematics learning, especially with young children, requires research on what helps young children to master basic numeracy skills and what may improve mathematics instruction.

Finger counting is known to improve calculation performance in 4-to-7-year-old typically developing children (Jordan et al., 2008). However, research has focused on the spontaneous way in which fingers were used while solving calculations.

The present study aims at showing that out of the spontaneous nature of finger use, non-spontaneous finger use leads to better performance in simple calculation than calculation without finger use. More, as working memory and manual motor imitation skills were shown to impact spontaneous finger use (Dupont-Boime & Thevenot, 2018; Bonneton-Botté et al., 2022), measures were added to find out if these skills impact non-spontaneous finger use as well.

Preschoolers and first graders from 4 to 7 years old (N=67) performed 14 simple additions and subtractions once with compulsory finger use, and once without the possibility of finger use. A working memory task (Gimbert et al., 2019), and a manual motor imitation task (Vaivre-Douret, 2010) were also performed.

A model comparison demonstrated that non-spontaneous finger use enhanced calculation performance in all age-group children, even if it differed from group to group. Furthermore, in the non-spontaneous finger use condition, calculation performance increased irrespective of working memory spans or manual motor imitation skills.

Thus, supporting the effectiveness of non-spontaneous finger use in calculation tasks for 4-to-7-year-old children, the present results encourage further investigations of finger use training in young children.

Keywords: finger use, finger counting, calculation, working memory, manual motor skills