Is there an innate biological readiness among babies to process quantitative information and mathematical thinking? The researchers of the electrophysiological laboratory at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev are trying to answer this question.
Avi Blizovsky
A baby with the electrode cap attached to his head, watches a film accompanied by a soundtrack by the composer Yossi Yampel, specially prepared for the study.
Is there an innate biological readiness among babies to process quantitative information and mathematical thinking? The researchers of the electrophysiological laboratory at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev are trying to answer this question, as part of a new study, led by Dr. Andrea Berger from the department of behavioral sciences at the university.
As part of the research, which is being carried out in collaboration with Prof. Michael Posner from the University of Oregon, and funded by the Israel-USA Binational Science Foundation (BSF), more than 50 babies between the ages of 5-9 months recently visited the laboratory. The project tests the distinction between Basic quantities (1,2) among infants, and the initial understanding of simple arithmetic operations, such as addition and subtraction.
According to Dr. Berger, the researchers expect that there will be a distinction at the level of brain activity between a situation in which the baby watches a correct arithmetic operation (for example, if there was one doll and another one was added, now there are two dolls), compared to a situation in which the baby watches an incorrect arithmetic operation (for example , if there was one doll and another was added, and now there is only one doll).
The results of the study may strengthen the claim that there is an innate biological readiness to process quantitative information and mathematical thinking. Also, the research will expand the existing knowledge regarding how the brain of small children processes this type of information, the brain areas involved in the process, the timing of the cognitive processes involved, and more.
