Analogic and Symbolic Comparison of Numerosity in Preschool Children with Cochlear Implants

This study explores how preschoolers with cochlear implants process numerical comparisons from two different inputs: a) nonverbal (analogical) and b) verbal (symbolic). Preschool cochlear-implanted children (CI) ranging in age from 4;3 to 6;1 were compared with 99 age-matched hearing children (HC) in three numerical tasks: verbal counting, a digit comparison and a dot comparison. Results show that CI children may outperform HC in numerical tasks that require visuo-spatial analysis (e.g. analogical comparison). More importantly, they perform as well as HC in numerical tasks that require symbolic processes (digit comparison) and in verbal counting. However, when the influence of children's verbal counting skills on digit comparison is examined differences between the two groups emerge. HC's capacity to compare digits was influenced by their knowledge of the verbal counting system, but this knowledge was not influential when CI children's performance in the same task was considered. These findings suggest that different strategies may characterize the way the two groups tackle symbolic numerical comparisons. The educational and instructional implications of these findings are discussed.