Cognitive Components of the Numerical Approximation System and Computational Fluency in Primary School Children

The relationship between the two cognitive systems that contribute to quantity processing (the Approximate Number System ANS and the Symbolic Number System SNS) and their influence on mathematical performance and learning difficulties has been investigated in recent years. This study investigates the relationship between SAN accuracy and mathematical performance in a symbolic calculus fluency test in second and third cycle primary school students (3rd to 6th grades). A total of 229 students were assessed with a SAN accuracy test, consisting of a non-symbolic comparison of quantities and a computational fluency test. The descriptive results are within what is expected with respect to the evolutionary character of the estimation and calculation fluidity variables. The correlational analysis showed that there is a low correlation between calculation fluidity and comparison of magnitudes in third (p <.05) that disappeared in subsequent courses (p >.05).