原作者：
来源Are Math Smarts Innate? : Discovery News
译者MISS宅
There's more to picking up math concepts than paying attention in class, according to recent research. It turns out kids' math performance may be better for those with a natural knack for sensing number quantities.
最近一项研究显示，相较于认真听课的人，有更多人是在不知不觉中学会数学概念的。结果证明，那些天生数字直觉较好的孩子，数学会更好。
Previous studies looked at how sensing numbers affected performance, but researchers didn't know whether the natural ability to sense numbers or proficiency seeing numbers as symbols limited math skills. Pinpointing which factor affects learning in children will help teachers and researchers develop better programs for kids who may enter formal education at a disadvantage.
之前的研究致力于研究数感是如何影响数学成绩的，但研究者们并不知道与生俱来的数感或者熟练地将数字看做符号是否会限制数学技巧。准确指出在孩子们的学习中是哪个因素起了影响，将有助于教师和研究者们为那些在接受正规教育时处于劣势的孩子们开发出一套更好的方案。
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For example, flashing a number of dots -- some blue, others red -- and asking someone to determine which group of objects there was more of is a common way to measure people's ability to sense numbers.
例如，闪过一连串的圆点——一些是蓝色的，其余是红色的——找个人来判断哪个色的点较多，就是一种检测人们数感的寻常办法。
The dots appear and disappear so quickly that it becomes impossible to count, so the amounts have to be sensed instead. Also called the Approximate Number System (ANS), this innate ability has been studied in adults, children, infants and even non-human animals. So far, researchers suggest that the accuracy of a person's ANS improves throughout childhood.
那些点来去匆匆，根本不可能数得清，因此要靠感觉来判断点的数量。这种感觉称为“略估数字系统”，对于数感天赋的研究在成人，孩子，婴儿，甚至是非人类生物中都曾进行过。迄今为止，研究者指出一个人的“略估数字系统”的准确度从童年开始变好。
The concept also falls within a larger area teachers and researchers refer to as "number sense," or the ability to count, discern quantities, pick up on number patterns and "to rule out unreasonable results to arithmetic operations," according to the paper. Specifically, people and animals subitize, or perceive and estimate the number of objects by glance.
更多的教师和研究者们也将这一观念定义为“数感”，或是数数，分辨数量的能力。研究表明，它是在数字模型和“排除数学运算中不合理结果”的过程中习得的。具体地说，人和动物都是靠扫一眼，就凭直觉，或者悟性估计出物体的数量。
In the experiment, researchers at Johns Hopkins University studied 174 children between 3 and 5 years of age (the original sample included 200 children, but some were excluded for various reasons) to measure their ANS with computer tests. After, they measured children's math and verbal skills through a series of tests and asking parents to list common words in their children's vocabulary.
在实验中，约翰霍普金斯大学的研究者们运用电脑测试检测了174位3至5岁孩子的“略估数字系统”(最初的样本包括了200名孩子，但有些因为种种原因被排除在外)。随后，他们运用一系列测试，并请父母列出他们子女掌握的普通词汇的方式检测了孩子们的数学和语言能力。
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Controlling for age, vocabulary size and speed of taking the test, the group still found better ANS scores to be positively associated with children's early math abilities. Previously thought to be the result of different teaching styles, this relationship seems to already exist before kids start formal math education in school.
通过控制年龄，单词量，测试的速度，研究者们仍旧发现较高的“略估数字系统”得分与孩子早期的数学能力正相关。之前的观念则认为是不同的教学方式导致了这一结果，而这种联系似乎在孩子去学校开始接受正式的数学教育之前就存在了。
Despite the results, the authors of the paper readily admit they cannot use ANS to predict math ability. They also caution that they could not control other aspects of cognition, which may also be at play.
且不论研究结果，论文的作者很快承认他们不能用“略估数字系统”来预测数学能力。他们也告诫到他们无法控制认知力的其他方面，而这些东西很可能也在研究中起了作用。
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