There's nothing as practical as a good theory

Theoretical analyses of the development of numerical representations suggest that playing linear number board games, akin to Chutes and Ladders, should enhance young children's numerical knowledge. Consistent with this prediction, playing such a game for roughly one hour increases low-income, urban preschoolers' proficiency on a diverse set of numerical tasks: numerical magnitude comparison, number line estimation, counting, and numeral identification. The gains remain present nine weeks later and are equally strong for African-American and Caucasian children. The game playing experience also increases low-income preschoolers' ability to learn the answers to addition problems; children who previously have played the numerical board game learn the addition problems better than ones who previously engaged in other numerical activities. Moreover, preschoolers' amount of home experience playing number board games is positively correlated with their numerical knowledge, whereas their experience playing card games and video games is not. Thus, playing numerical board games with children from low-income backgrounds appears to increase their numerical knowledge and helps them start school on a more equal footing with classmate from more affluent backgrounds.

Speaker: Prof. Robert S. Siegler, Teresa Heinz Professor of Cognitive Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University

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