Development of spatial representation of numbers: A study of the SNARC effect in Chinese children

• Participants were 314 Chinese children (from kindergartens to 6th grades) and adults.
• All age groups showed a significant (marginally for 1st graders) SNARC effect.
• It mean that China preschoolers already developed spatial representations of numbers.
• However, the size of the SNARC effect did not show much developmental change.
• These results are discussed in the cross-cultural differences in early development.

Using the standard parity judgment task, this study investigated the development of numerical–spatial representation. Participants were 314 healthy right-handed Chinese children (from kindergarteners to sixth graders) and adults. The results revealed that all age groups showed a significant (or marginally significant in the case of first graders) SNARC (spatial–numerical association of response codes) effect, indicating that Chinese children as young as kindergarteners already had developed automatic spatial representations of numbers (or the mental number line). Surprisingly, however, the size of the SNARC effect did not show much developmental change. These results are discussed in the context of the literature on spatial representations of numbers and on cross-cultural differences in early development of number cognition.