Is the number word sequence a central component in childrens mathematical development?
Response 1a: Number concepts develop within an independent modular framework; number sequence knowledge is peripheral to the process. There is strong evidence that infants in the first year of life are sensitive to changes in the numbers of items in small sets, where the set size is below four (e.g., Feigenson & Carey, 2005; Wynn, 1992) and that they can discriminate between large sets of items where the proportionate numerical difference is sufficiently great, such as 8 items versus 16 items (Brannon, Abbott, & Lutz, 2004; Xu & Spelke, 2000). In these early stages of development there is a complex relation between representation of number and representation of associated non-numeric variables such as area, size and arrangement of items (Brannon et al., 2004; Clearfield & Mix, 2001). However, it is generally accepted that these early number-related behaviours of infants are not influenced by verbal systems of thought. Some theorists propose that the non-verbal representation of number
