Correspondence Errors in Children’s Counting

Abstract

This chapter presents (1) an analysis of counting in which the indicating function of the act of pointing is made explicit, (2) a category system of correspondence errors in counting based on that analysis, and (3) a developmental description of correspondence errors in terms of that category system. The data are from observations of a large sample of children from 3¹/₂ to 6 years of age. The analysis of counting and the empirical results are pertinent both for those who may be interested in the more theoretical cognitive developmental issues raised by certain aspects of counting and for those who may be interested in the practical issues of improving counting skill. Counting is a complex activity, and this chapter deals only with one of its simpler variants—counting objects that are fixed but arranged in a single row. Counting objects that are movable and counting fixed objects arranged in disorganized arrays and in circular arrays are discussed in chapter 4. The effects of several variables on correspondence errors for objects in rows are reported in chapter 5. The results from all three chapters are then summarized and discussed in chapter 6.