Can People Identify Numbers Greater than Three?

Overview

Objectives/Goals The goal is to determine if people can actually estimate and identify numbers greater than 3. According to a study done in Nicaragua, people can determine numbers up to 3, but they have difficulty when presented with numbers greater than 3. I hypothesized that humans could only accurately determine numbers up to 3. Methods/Materials Prior to actual testing, the subject had to pass two control tests. The first test had the subject read some words on the screen; this was used to determine if the subject could distinguish black from white. The second test had the subject count to 15; this was used to determine the subject's knowledge of numbers up to 15. Then, I used a PowerPoint presentation to present the set quantities of objects, which were simply dots on a screen. The dots flashed on the screen for exactly 0.5 seconds by applying a timer on the appropriate slides. There were 15 slides of dots total and the order was determined using a random number generator. Each correct answer was recorded as well as each incorrect answer. I tested 3 age groups: less than thirteen-years-old, thirteen to twenty-one-years-old, and greater than twenty-one-years-old. Results All subjects could correctly estimate numbers up to 4 dots. Subjects then began to make a few mistakes at 5 dots. Once there were 9 dots, however, there was a massive drop in correct answers. Past 9 dots, there continued to be a lack of correct answers. Subjects less than thirteen-years-old were made mistakes than those who were older. Conclusions/Discussion Since all subjects correctly estimated the number of dots up to 4, people must be able to identify numbers up to 4. Since a few incorrect answers were given, starting at 5 dots, it is reasonable to say that humans still have a good grasp on this set of numbers. However, at 9 dots and onward, most people have difficulty with estimation. Therefore, my hypothesis was slightly incorrect; humans can identify numbers greater than 3.

Awards (1)

• Honorable Mention

Competition history

• CSEF 2014 Behavioral & Social Sciences · Entry S0415

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

• All Behavioural and Social Sciences projects
• CSEF Behavioural and Social Sciences projects
• Every CSEF 2014 project