28th International Congress of Psychology August 8 ... - U-netSURF

comparison of results between two waves (1986 and 2000) of study in Chinese children. Results
indicated that the math achievement held at a high level as before; the parents and teachers were
eager for children’s doing well in school and so do children as before; compared with the children
in 1986, current children were more concerned about their family benefits and social welfare;
students’ problems increased with Chinese society changes.
3046.5 Coping with stress caused by the event of SARS attack in Chinese school children, F.
Fang, G. Liu, Y. Liu, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
This study investigated how SARS’ event affected the school children’s learning, living and
emotion and how the children with their parents and teachers viewed themselves to cope with the
stress caused by SARS. Results showed that the event had negative effects on the students during
the classes were suspended in those days. However there were some positive changes in the
students, such as enlarging their knowledge about protecting the epidemic diseases, cultivating the
hygienic habits, enhancing their ability to study independently, also the relationship of
parent-child getting more closed and they like to go to schools more than before.
3047 INVITED SYMPOSIUM
Cognitive, linguistic and cultural factors in the development of mathematical skills
Convener and Chair: C. Donlan, UK
3047.1 The importance of low-level representational deficits in developmental impairments of
numerical cognition: Evidence from Williams syndrome, D. Ansari 1 , C. Donlan 2 , A.
Karmiloff-Smith 2 , 1 Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA; 2 University College London,
London, UK
Significant insights into the typical basis of numerical representations have been made. However,
research seeking to uncover the developmental basis of numeracy deficits remains sparse. I will
propose a research strategy exploring the contribution of low-level deficits in systems of number
to high-level deficits. I will present data from Williams syndrome, a genetic developmental
disorder, where severe number difficulties have been reported. I shall present data illustrating that
the developmental trajectories of numerical representations are impaired and atypical in WS.
Finally, I will discuss the implications of these findings for the study of developmental
impairments of numerical cognition in general.
3047.3 The role of language in the development of numeracy; evidence from children with
Specific Language Impairments, E. Newton 1 , C. Donlan 1 , R. Cowan 2 , D. Lloyd 1 , 1 University
College London, London, UK; 2 University of London, London, UK
A UK study examined mathematical skills in N=55 children with Specific Language Impairments
(SLI), compared to controls. Simple counting aloud was found to exert strong influence on
number system knowledge, and thereby to affect arithmetic skills, in all groups. Children with SLI
performed poorly relative to age, and produced special patterns of count error, reflecting the
structure of the English number word sequence. Conceptual understanding was relatively intact.
The findings suggest an important but circumscribed role for linguistic systems in the
development of numeracy, with the possibility that cross-linguistic contrasts should produce
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