Number processing and mental calculation in school children aged 7 to 10 years: a transcultural comparison

Neuropsychological studies of dyscalculic patients show that arithmetical d evelopment is not a unidimensional process. In transcultural investigations , cultural, educational and linguistic factors might affect differently the various components of mathematical development. Four hundred and sixty sch oolchildren aged 7 to 10 years from Brasilia, Brazil (n = 141), Paris, Fran ce (n = 160) and Zurich, Switzerland (n = 159) were asked to perform eleven number processing and calculation tasks. Chronological age, which was almo st confounded in this study to educational level, had a strong effect on so me tasks (knowledge of the written code of numbers, number comparison, ment al calculation, problem solving), but only a slight effect on other tasks ( counting dots, counting backwards, estimation). Also, linguistic factors an d factors related to the socio-economic level of the family had different e ffects on the various components of calculation and number processing. Evid ence from developmental studies has to be integrated into theoretical model s of calculation and number processsing, which are presently based mainly o n results from neuropsychological studies of dyscalculic patients.