Abstract：
Recent empirical investigations have revealed that finger counting is a strategy associated with good arithmetic performance in young children. Fingers could have a special status during development because they operate as external support that provide sensory-motor and kinesthetic affordances in addition to visual input. However, it was unknown whether fingers are more helpful than manipulatives such as tokens during arithmetic problem solving. To address this question, we conducted a study with 93 Vietnamese children (48 girls) aged 4 and 5 years (mean = 58 months, range = 47-63) with high arithmetic and counting skills from families with relatively high socioeconomic status. Their behaviors were observed as they solved addition problems with manipulatives at their disposal. We found that children spontaneously used both manipulatives and fingers to solve the problems. Crucially, their performance was not higher when fingers rather than manipulatives were used (i.e., 70% vs. 81% correct answers, respectively). Therefore, at the beginning of learning, it is possible that, at least for children with high numerical skills, fingers are not the only gateway to efficient arithmetic development and manipulatives might also lead to proficient arithmetic.
摘要：
最近的实证研究表明，手指计数是一种与幼儿良好算术表现相关的策略。手指在发育过程中可能具有特殊的地位，因为它们作为外部支持，除了视觉输入外，还提供感觉运动和动觉能力。然而,在算术问题解决过程中，手指是否比令牌等操作更有帮助是未知的。为了解决这个问题，我们对93名4岁和5岁的越南儿童（48名女孩）进行了一项研究（平均=58个月，范围=47-63），具有较高的算术和计数技能，来自社会经济地位相对较高的家庭。观察到他们的行为，因为他们可以使用操纵手段解决附加问题。我们发现，孩子们自发地使用手法和手指来解决问题。至关重要的是，当使用手指而不是手法时，他们的表现并不高(即，70%vs.81%正确答案分别)。因此,在学习的开始，有可能，至少对于数字技能高的孩子来说，手指不是有效的算术开发的唯一门户，操纵也可能导致熟练的算术。
