A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Is the study about spontaneous attention to exact quantity based on studies of spontaneous focusing on numerosity?
Authors: Minna M. Hannula-Sormunen, Jake McMullen, Pekka Räsänen, Janne Lepola, Erno Lehtinen
Publisher: Psychology Press Ltd
Publication year: 2016
Journal: European Journal of Developmental Psychology
Journal name in source: European Journal of Developmental Psychology
Volume: 13
Issue: 1
First page : 115
Last page: 120
Number of pages: 6
ISSN: 1740-5610
eISSN: 1740-5610
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2015.1071252
Li and Baroody present a study in which they investigate toddlers’ spontaneous attention to exact quantity without acknowledging how previous studies of spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON) are related to their concept and methods. In this commentary requested by the European Journal of Developmental Psychology, we argue that the concept and the methods of spontaneous attention to exact quantity in the study of Li and Baroody clearly arise from previous research on SFON, as the authors have previously noted in their paper published in 2008. It is highly questionable whether their approach can be theoretically or methodologically dissociated from the previous research on SFON tendency to the extent that it is necessary to use an alternative name for the concept in their study.