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The impact of finger counting habits on arithmetic in adults and children

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Abstract

Here, we explored the impact of finger counting habits on arithmetic in both adults and children. Two groups of participants were examined, those that begin counting with their left hand (left-starters) and those that begin counting with their right hand (right-starters). For the adults, performance on an addition task in which participants added 2 two-digit numbers was compared. The results revealed that left-starters were slower than right-starters when adding and they had lower forward and backward digit-span scores. The children (aged 5–12) showed similar results on a single-digit timed addition task—right-starters outperformed left-starters. However, the children did not reveal differences in working memory or verbal and non-verbal intelligence as a function of finger counting habit. We argue that the motor act of finger counting influences how number is represented and suggest that left-starters may have a more bilateral representation that accounts for the slower processing.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by a grant from Indiana University (FRSP). I would like to thank Roy Seo, Jessica Denton, Lynnsey Cline, Galen Hartman, Priyanka Ghosh and Taylor Hurst for the assistance with data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Sharlene D. Newman

  2. School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA

    Firat Soylu

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  1. Sharlene D. Newman
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  2. Firat Soylu
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Correspondence to Sharlene D. Newman.

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Newman, S.D., Soylu, F. The impact of finger counting habits on arithmetic in adults and children. Psychological Research 78, 549–556 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-013-0505-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-013-0505-9

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