Transcoding numbers: A developmental approach of comprehension

Abstract

The aim of this article is to study the development of transcoding ability using a comprehension task. We present the subject with a number written in the alphabetic code (e.g., Five) and we ask him to point out the equivalent in a set offour numbers written with the Arabic code (e.g., 5, 15, 50, 34). Results are discussed with regard to the cognitive and neuropsychological models ofnumber transcoding.One of the characteristics of number which probably played a part in the interest, it has aroused over the last 20 years, is the fact that it can be represented through at least 3 different codes (Deloche & Seron, 1987). Firstly, the number is an oral fonn and as such can be coded phonologically and morphologically. It is also used in a written fonn: it can be written with the aid of a number code using the Arabic number system (e.g., 5) or by means of the alphabetical code (e.g., five)l. Its production and comprehension, whether written or oral, requires the passage from one code to the other according to processes we will call transcoding.In the last 10 years, many models have been developed to account of cognitive processes used by adults in a transcoding task. We will first present some of these models, and then go on to present some works using a developmental approach. Transcoding numbers: cognitive modelsAs regards the modelization of cognitive processes implied in transcoding, three main types of app:roach can be distinguished (for a more detailed review, see Seron 1993; Seron & Noel, 1995). A distinction can be made between models which postulate the existence of an abstract semantic representation, those defending the hypothesis of the use of several strongly associated codes and, lastly, those giving each particular task a specific code.

Numerical and Arithmetical Cognition: Patterns of Functions and Deficits in Children at Risk for a Mathematical Disability

“…Number production and comprehension require the ability to process verbal and Arabic representations of numbers (e.g., "three hundred forty two," "342"), as well as an understanding of the meaning of the processed numbers (e.g., that the 3 in 342 represents 3 sets of 100) and the ability to transcode, or translate, numbers from one representation to another (e.g., "three hundred forty two" to "342"; Bernoussi & Khomsi, 1997;Dehaene, 1992;McCloskey, Caramazza, & Basili, 1985;Seron & Fayol, 1994). The assessment of these skills is often based on the individual's ability to transcode numbers from verbal to Arabic form and from Arabic to verbal form and to make judgments about the meaning of individual numbers or sets of numbers (e.g., Seron & Fayol, 1994).…”