How do children talk and reason about quantities?

Languages allow people to talk about quantities like “three apples” or “three pounds of apples.” Children usually learn their native language quickly, and most two-year-olds are capable of understanding number words such as “one, two, three.” While counting objects in a set, they understand that the last number word spoken indicates the total number of objects in the set. However, what exactly have they learned about the process of counting in determining quantities? This three-part study explores how 3-5 year-olds talk and reason about quantities.

Can children reason about three-dimensional geometry?

This study explores children’s representation and reasoning about three-dimensional (3D) geometric features. We want to understand children’s capacity to identify 3D objects by using information such as angle, length and perspective.

Are children sensitive to basic geometric properties?

We know that adults are able to recognize subtle differences between shapes. This study asks two questions: “Do children share this ability?” and “Are some properties of shapes easier to recognize than others?”

Do children and adults think of ‘randomness’ in the same way?

Adults have certain ideas about what seems random in the world. For example, many adults have had the experience of flipping a coin and trying to guess which side of the coin will end up on top—either the “heads” side (H) or the “tails” side (T). Most adults would identify the coin flip sequence of HTTHT as appearing more random than a sequence that looks more uniform, i.e.: THTHT. Although any sequence of five coin flips is equally likely, some sequences feel more random than others.

This study asks: are children’s ideas about randomness similar to adults, and how do their ideas change with age?

How do children come to understand ‘100’?

Have you ever heard children use numbers such as ‘100’ or ‘1000’ to describe the number of items they see, even when there are only 15 or so items present? Developing estimation skills is an important part of understanding numbers.

This study asks: How do children come to develop an approximate representation of a number?

Do children understand multiplication before they learn about it in school?

This research explores children’s instincts about multiplication before they learn about it in school.

How do toddlers conceptualize words that indicate spatial relationships?

We use language to describe where things are all the time (i.e.: “the glass is to the left of the telephone”). Children have to learn which words to use when describing spatial relationships in varying contexts.

This study asks: how do 4 year-olds conceptualize imaginary spatial words?