Even more unexpected, however, was the extent to which the two distinct kinds of number-crunching cognition – ANS and learned mathematics – are linked.
Kids that performed best in the image test were also those who scored the highest in standard maths achievement tests, going back almost 10 years to kindergarten. The same held true at the other end of the spectrum, even after additional factors, such as IQ levels, were taken into account, according to the study, which was published in the U.K. journal Nature.
Boosting number sense
"What is surprising is that the formal mathematics we work so hard to learn in school ... is related in any way to what a rat is doing when it is out looking for scraps of food, or what you and I are doing when we look for a seat on a bus," said Halberda.
But this does not mean that one cannot be good in maths without a keen ANS, or that having a strong "number sense" is a guarantee for good grades in school, he added. Nor is it clear whether one's ANS can be boosted.
"It remains to be seen if one can improve a student's innate number sense by practice and training, and whether such training will lead to improvements in school math performance," Halberda said.
