Addition and Subtraction by Human Infants - Essay Example

The result of the process was that the infants who were subject to the experiments saw the infants looked at the instance that was impossible making them have the recognition of a different occurrence in the process. The authors concluded that infants possess a true numerical concept because they have access to the ordering of the numerical relationships. They argue the arithmetical capabilities of infants give them the capacity to do arithmetic calculations and thus provide the foundation for future mathematical knowledge.

Methodology

            Another aspect to use in the realization of the same hypothesis is numerosity detection and manipulation. It is like children to have a higher interest in new things they come into contact with or see. According to the research done by Cooper and Starkey (1980), infants of 4-6 months are sensitive to the numerosity of arrays of black dots using the habituation and dis-habituation epitome. Since they look more at new things the infants can be presented with new stimuli like bright flower pictures. The use of habituation and dis-habituation give the infants new reactions as they lose interest in the things that they see repeatedly but the introduction of new stimuli makes them have interest again in the process. The control of the new stimuli with a spatial frequency makes the children habituate with the first instance losing interest and the introduction of a new issue gives them back their curiosity. The use of this methodology is useful since the reactions of the infants to different stimuli will be put on record and the process can be repeated severally each time using a new aspect of stimulation like animal pictures.  The reaction in every experiment will quantify the aspect of infant reactions to new issues.  The concept of numerosity is very lucrative in the process of making up the new method since possession of the numerosity implies that the infant can recognize the change in the members of the old stimuli and the entrance of new stimuli. In other words, they can recognize the addition of the new changes and the subtraction of the old instances. This means that they can compute the arithmetic sequences via addition and subtraction of the sequences. The experiment will only use 2-3 experiments to avoid the confusion of the infants for they can lose concentration easily.