Some people may just be born with a talent for math. I mean, we’ve known that practicing your times tables makes for better multiplication, but new research shows that our ___1___ sense of numbers is linked to our math ability, even before any training in math.

Researchers gave 200 four-year-olds tests of number sense, which is the ability to ___2___. In this test kids watched groups of blue and yellow dots flash on a computer screen, and had to guess which color was more numerous. Some comparisons were obvious, like two blue and eight yellow. Others were tough, like five blue and six yellow. Researchers also tested the children's basic math skills.

Kids who could judge that a group of six yellow dots is larger than a group of five blue dots were also better at arithmetic. Meaning that number sense ___3___ basic math skills, even in pre-schoolers. The study appears in the journal Developmental Science.

Good number sense in adolescents was thought to be linked to ___4___, but turns out from this study that the link between good number sense and good math skills exists before instruction.
【視聽版科學小組榮譽出品】
inborn guess quantities without counting correlated with good instruction
有些人生來就是數(shù)學天才，我是說，我們知道多背背乘法表，乘法運算能力會提高，但一項新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，即使未經任何訓練，人們與生俱來的數(shù)字意識和數(shù)學運算能力也是密不可分的。 研究人員對200名4歲兒童進行了數(shù)字意識測試。所謂數(shù)字意識就是指猜數(shù)量的能力。測試過程中，研究人員讓孩子們看電腦屏幕上藍色、黃色圓點動畫，然后讓他們猜那種顏色的比較多。有的數(shù)量區(qū)別比較明顯：藍色2個，黃色8個；有的數(shù)量區(qū)別比較模糊：藍色5個，黃色6個。此外，研究人員還測試了孩子們的基本算術能力。 能在5個藍色、6個黃色中區(qū)分出黃色比較多的孩子，算術也相對較好。由此得出，數(shù)字意識和基本數(shù)學能力有關，在還沒上學的小孩子身上就能反映出來。這項研究刊登在《發(fā)育科學》期刊山。 們曾以為青少年的數(shù)字意識離不開后天良好的教導，不過這項研究顯示數(shù)字意識和數(shù)學水平的關系其實早就存在了。