Abstract
The association between language and mathematics is an important debated topic. Here, we proposed a structure correspondence hypothesis to explain under what conditions language and mathematics are closely related. According to the hypothesis, there would be an association when they have equivalent structure. One hundred and fifty high school students were recruited to finish mathematical and language tests at the element level (i.e., geometric term processing and word analogy) and at the low-dimensional combination level (i.e., geometric principle processing and sentence completion) as well as the tests to measure cognitive covariates (general intelligence and spatial processing). After controlling for age, gender and cognitive covariates, geometric term processing and word analogy were closely correlated, and geometric principle processing and sentence completion were significantly correlated. No other correlations were found. The results support the structure correspondence hypothesis and provide a new perspective of structure of language and verbalized mathematics for the relation between language and mathematics.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Abedi J, Lord C (2001) The language factor in mathematics tests. Appl Measur Educ 14(3):219–234. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324818ame1403_2
Abreu-Mendoza RA, Arias-Trejo N (2017) Counting ability in Down syndrome: the comprehension of the one-to-one correspondence principle and the role of receptive vocabulary. Neuropsychology 31(7):750–758. https://doi.org/10.1037/neu0000377
Alt M, Arizmendi GD, Beal CR (2014) The relationship between mathematics and language: academic implications for children with specific language impairment and English language learners. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch 45(3):220. https://doi.org/10.1044/2014_lshss-13-0003
Amalric M, Dehaene S (2017) Cortical circuits for mathematical knowledge: evidence for a major subdivision within the brain’s semantic networks. Philos Trans R Soc b Biol Sci 373(1740):20160515. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0515
Archibald LMD, Oram Cardy J, Joanisse MF, Ansari D (2013) Language, reading, and math learning profiles in an epidemiological sample of school age children. PLoS ONE 8(10):e77463. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0077463
Bai XJ, Liu J, Zang CL, Zhang MM, Guo XF, Yan GL (2011) The effect of parafoveal prevision in Chinese reading. Adv Psychol Sci 12:1721–1729
Beal CR, Adams NM, Cohen PR (2009) Reading proficiency and mathematics problem solving by high school English language learners. Urban Education 45(1):58–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085909352143
Berg DH (2008) Working memory and arithmetic calculation in children: the contributory roles of processing speed, short-term memory, and reading. J Exp Child Psychol 99(4):288–308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2007.12.002
Bishop DVM, Snowling MJ, Thompson PA, Greenhalgh T, CATALISE-2 Consortium (2017) Phase 2 of CATALISE: A multinational and multidisciplinary Delphi consensus study of problems with language development: terminology. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 58:1068–1080
Björn PM, Aunola K, Nurmi J-E (2014) Primary school text comprehension predicts mathematical word problem-solving skills in secondary school. Educ Psychol 36(2):362–377. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2014.992392
Brookman-Byrne A, Mareschal D, Tolmie AK, Dumontheil I (2019) The unique contributions of verbal analogical reasoning and nonverbal matrix reasoning to science and maths problem-solving in adolescence. Mind Brain Educ Off J Int Mind Brain Educ Soc 13(3):211–223. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12212
Bulut T, Hung Y, Tzeng OJ, Wu DH (2017) Neural correlates of processing sentences and compound words in Chinese. PLoS ONE 12(12):e0188526. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188526
Cappelletti M, Price CJ (2014) Residual number processing in dyscalculia. NeuroImage Clin 4:18–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2013.10.004
Cappelletti M, Leff AP, Price CJ (2012) How number processing survives left occipito-temporal damage. Neurocase 18(4):271–285. https://doi.org/10.1080/13554794.2011.588179
Chen F, Chalhoub-Deville M (2016) Differential and long-term language impact on math. Lang Test 33(4):577–605. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532215594641
Chen HY (2020) On teaching strategies of mathematics students in middle and high grades of primary schools. Enlight Wisdom 07:73
Chen QR, Deng Z (2006) Eye movement control theory and SWIFT model in reading. Adv Psychol Sci 05:675–681
Cheng D, Ma M, Hu Y, Zhou X (2021) Chinese kindergarteners skilled in mental abacus have advantages in spatial processing and attention. Cogn Dev 58:101046. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2021.101046
Cheung H, Chen L, Szeto CY, Feng G, Lu G, Zhang Z, Zhu Z, Wang S (2012) False belief and verb non-factivity: a common neural basis? Int J Psychophysiol 83(3):357–364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2011.12.002
Chow JC, Ekholm E (2018) Language domains differentially predict mathematics performance in young children. Early Child Res Q. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.02.011
Cirino PT, Morris MK, Morris RD (2007) Semantic, executive, and visuospatial abilities in mathematical reasoning of referred college students. Assessment 14(1):94–104. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191106291487
Coltheart M, Rastle K, Perry C, Langdon R, Ziegler J (2001) DRC: a dual route cascaded model of visual word recognition and reading aloud. Psychol Rev 108(1):204–256. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.108.1.204
Corsi P (1972) Human memory and the medical temporal region of the brain. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. McGill University, Montreal
Cowan R, Donlan C, Shepherd D-L, Cole-Fletcher R, Saxton M, Hurry J (2011) Basic calculation proficiency and mathematics achievement in elementary school children. J Educ Psychol 103(4):786–803. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024556
Cross AM, Joanisse MF, Archibald LMD (2018) Mathematical abilities in children with developmental language disorder. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch 50(1):150–163. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_LSHSS-18-0041
Cui J, Zhang Y, Wan S, Chen C, Zeng J, Zhou X (2019) Visual form perception is fundamental for both reading comprehension and arithmetic computation. Cogn 189:141–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2019.03.014
Cui J, Xiao R, Ma M, Yuan L, Cohen Kodash R, Zhou X (2020) Children skilled in mental abacus show enhanced non-symbolic number sense. Curr Psychol 41:2053–2066. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00717-0
Cui J, Lv L, Du H, Cui Z, Zhou X (2022) Language ability accounts for ethnic difference in mathematics achievement. Front Psychol 13:929719. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.929719
Daroczy G, Meurers D, Heller J, Wolska M, Nürk H (2020) The interaction of linguistic and arithmetic factors affects adult performance on arithmetic word problems. Cogn Process 21(1):105–125
De Smedt B, Taylor J, Archibald L, Ansari D (2009) How is phonological processing related to individual differences in children’s arithmetic skills? Dev Sci 13(3):508–520. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00897.x
Diesfeldt HF (1993) Progressive decline of semantic memory with preservation of number processing and calculation. Behav Neurol 6:239–242. https://doi.org/10.3233/BEN-1993-6411
Ding GS (2001) brain mechanisms of lexical representation and processing in Chinese-English bilinguals. Doctoral dissertation, Beijing Normal University. https://kns.cnki.net/KCMS/detail/detail.aspx?dbname=CDFD9908&filename=2006095742.nh
Ding N, Melloni L, Zhang H, Tian X, Poeppel D (2015) Cortical tracking of hierarchical linguistic structures in connected speech. Nat Neurosci 19(1):158–164. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.4186
Dong T (2021) Causes and countermeasures of primary school students favoritism. Exam Eval 4:118
Dowker A, Bala S, Lloyd D (2008) Linguistic influences on mathematical development: how important is the transparency of the counting system? Philos Psychol 21(4):523–538. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515080802285511
Durkin K, Mok PL, Conti-Ramsden G (2013) Severity of specific language impairment predicts delayed development in number skills. Front Psychol. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00581
Einarsdóttir JT, Björnsdóttir A, Símonardóttir I (2016) The Predictive value of preschool language assessments on academic achievement: a 10-year longitudinal study of Icelandic children. Am J Speech Lang Pathol 25(1):67. https://doi.org/10.1044/2015_ajslp-14-0184
Ekstrom RBR, French JJW, Harman HH, Dermen D (1976) Manual for kit of factor-referenced cognitive tests. Educational Testing Service, Princeton
Essien AA (2010) Investigating proficiency in the language of instruction as means of improving mathematical proficiency in a multilingual classroom. Educ Change 14(2):169–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/16823206.2010.518006
Farrington-Flint L, Canobi KH, Wood C, Faulkner D (2007) The role of relational reasoning in children’s addition concepts. Br J Dev Psychol 25(2):227–246. https://doi.org/10.1348/026151006x108406
Farrington-Flint L, Canobi KH, Wood C, Faulkner D (2010) Children’s patterns of reasoning about reading and addition concepts. Br J Dev Psychol 28(2):427–448. https://doi.org/10.1348/026151009x424222
Fedorenko E, Gibson E, Rohde D (2007) The nature of working memory in linguistic, arithmetic and spatial integration processes. J Mem Lang 56(2):246–269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2006.06.007
Fischer J-P (2015) Commentary: Development of magnitude processing in children with developmental dyscalculia: space, time, and number. Front Psychol. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00804
Forsyth SR, Powell SR (2017) Differences in the mathematics-vocabulary knowledge of fifth-grade students with and without learning difficulties. Learn Disabil Res Pract. https://doi.org/10.1111/ldrp.12144
Frederickson N, Jacobs S (2001) Controllability attributions for academic performance and the perceived scholastic competence, global self-worth and achievement of children with dyslexia. Sch Psychol Int 22(4):401–416. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034301224002
Fuchs LS, Geary DC, Fuchs D, Compton DL, Hamlett CL (2015) Pathways to third-grade calculation versus word-reading competence: are they more alike or different? Child Dev 87(2):558–567. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12474
Ge BY (1985) Chinese vocabulary research. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, Beijing
Geary DC, Bow-Thomas CC, Liu F, Siegler RS (1996) Development of arithmetical competencies in chinese and american children: influence of age, language, and schooling. Child Dev 67(5):2022–2044. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1996.tb01841.x
Geary DC, Hoard MK, Nugent L, Rouder JN (2015) Individual differences in algebraic cognition: Relation to the approximate number and semantic memory systems. J Exp Child Psychol 140:211–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2015.07.010
Goodrich JM, Namkung JM (2019) Correlates of reading comprehension and word-problem solving skills of Spanish-speaking dual language learners. Early Child Res Q 48:256–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2019.04.006
Goswami U (1991) Analogical reasoning: what develops? A review of research and theory. Child Dev 62(1):1–22
Gray SA, Reeve RA (2016) Number-specific and general cognitive markers of preschoolers’ math ability profiles. J Exp Child Psychol 147:1–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2016.02.004
Hecht H, Vogt S, Prinz W (2001) Motor learning enhances perceptual judgment: a case for action-perception transfer. Psychol Res 65(1):3–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s004260000043
Henner J, Novogrodsky R, Caldwell-Harris C, Hoffmeister R (2018) The development of American sign language-based analogical reasoning in signing deaf children. J Speech Lang Hear Res 62(1):93–105. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_JSLHR-L-18-0062
Hong W, Zhang XM, Feng C (2021) Semantic integration in Sentence reading processing of Chinese L2 learners at different levels. World Chin Lang Teach 1:115–125
Imbo I, LeFevre J-A (2009) Cultural differences in complex addition: efficient Chinese versus adaptive Belgians and Canadians. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 35(6):1465–1476. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017022
Imbo I, Vanden Bulcke C, De Brauwer J, Fias W (2014) Sixty-four or four-and-sixty? The influence of language and working memory on children’s number transcoding. Front Psychol 5:313. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00313
Diamond JM (1999) Guns, germs, and steel: the fates of human societies, 1st edn. W. W. Norton & Company, New York
Jefferies E, Bateman D, Lambon Ralph MA (2005) The role of the temporal lobe semantic system in number knowledge: Evidence from late-stage semantic dementia. Neuropsychologia 43:887–905. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2004.09.009
Jobard G, Vigneau M, Mazoyer B, Tzourio-Mazoyer N (2007) Impact of modality and linguistic complexity during reading and listening tasks. Neuroimage 34(2):784–800. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.06.067
Joyner RE, Wagner RK (2019) Co-occurrence of reading disabilities and math disabilities: a meta-analysis. Sci Stud Read 24(1):14–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2019.1593420
Julien CL, Neary D, Snowden JS (2010) Personal experience and arithmetic meaning in semantic dementia. Neuropsychologia 48(1):278–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009
Julien CL, Thompson JC, Neary D, Snowden JS (2008) Arithmetic knowledge in semantic dementia: is it invariably preserved? Neuropsychologia 46(11):2732–2744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008
Kamath V, Sutherland ER, Chaney G-A (2019) A meta-analysis of neuropsychological functioning in the logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia: comparison with the semantic and non-fluent variants. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1355617719001115
Kerz E, Wiechmann D (2015) Second language construction learning: investigating domain-specific adaptation in advanced L2 production. Lang Cogn 8(04):533–565. https://doi.org/10.1017/langcog.2015.6
Kikas E, Mädamürk K, Palu A (2019) What role do comprehension-oriented learning strategies have in solving math calculation and word problems at the end of middle school? Br J Educ Psychol. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12308
Koerte IK, Willems A, Muehlmann M, Moll K, Cornell S, Pixner S, Steffinger D, Keeser D, Heinen F, Kubicki M, Shenton ME (2016) Mathematical abilities in dyslexic children: a diffusion tensor imaging study. Brain Imaging Behav 10:781–791. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-015-9436-y
Koponen T, Aunola K, Ahonen T, Nurmi J-E (2007) Cognitive predictors of single-digit and procedural calculation skills and their covariation with reading skill. J Exp Child Psychol 97(3):220–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2007.03.001
Krajewski K, Schneider W (2009) Exploring the impact of phonological awareness, visual-spatial working memory, and preschool quantity-number competencies on mathematics achievement in elementary school: findings from a 3-year longitudinal study. J Exp Child Psychol 103:516–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2009.03.009
Kyttälä M, Lehto JE (2008) Some factors underlying mathematical performance: the role of visuospatial working memory and non-verbal intelligence. Eur J Psychol Educ 23(1):77–94. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173141
Landerl K, Bevan A, Butterworth B (2004) Developmental dyscalculia and basic numerical capacities: a study of 8–9-year-old students. Cognition 93(2):99–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2003.11.004
Lee K, Ng SF, Ng EL, Lim ZY (2004) Working memory and literacy as predictors of performance on algebraic word problems. J Exp Child Psychol 89(2):140–158
Li J, Zhao Y, Zhou S, Pu Y, He H, Zhao M (2020) Set-shifting ability is specifically linked to high-school science and math achievement in chinese adolescents. PsyCh J 9(3):327–338
Liu SX (1990) Lexicography of Chinese Description. The Commercial Press, Beijing
Liu J, Zhang H, Chen C, Chen H, Cui J, Zhou X (2017) The neural circuits for arithmetic principles. NeuroImage 147:432–446. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.12.035
Liu J, Yuan L, Chen C, Cui J, Zhang H, Zhou X (2019) The semantic system supports the processing of mathematical principles. Neurosci 404:102–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2019.01.0
Luzzi S, Cafazzo V, Silvestrini M, Provinciali L (2013) Arithmetic knowledge in early semantic dementia. Neurol Sci 34(9):1613–1619. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-013-1294-z
Miller KF, Smith CM, Zhu J, Zhang H (1995) Preschool origins of cross-national differences in mathematical competence: the role of number-naming systems. Psychol Sci 6(1):56–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1995.tb00305.x
Miyashita H, Sakai KL (2011) Localized activation in the left dorsal inferior frontal selective to the sentence completion. Neurosci Res 71:e284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neures.2011.07.1241
Morsanyi K, O’Mahony E, McCormack T (2017) Number comparison and number ordering as predictors of arithmetic performance in adults: exploring the link between the two skills, and investigating the question of domain-specificity. Q J Exp Psychol 70(12):2497–2517. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2016.1246577
Neuman SB, Newman EH, Dwyer J (2011) Erratum: educational effects of a vocabulary intervention on preschoolers word knowledge and conceptual development: a cluster-randomized trial. Read Res Q 46(3):255–256
Ng W-S, Wong TT-Y, Fong CY-C (2021) Contributions of reading comprehension subskills to arithmetic word-problem solving among Chinese primary school students. J Cogn Dev 22(4):585–604. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2021.1916498
Ostrosky-Solís F, Lozano A (2006) Digit Span: effect of education and culture. Int J Psychol 41(5):333–341. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207590500345724
Paetsch J, Felbrich A, Stanat P (2015) Second language proficiency and mathematical achievement: their interrelations. Zeitschrift Fur Padagogische Psychologie 29(1):19–29. https://doi.org/10.1024/1010-0652/a000142
Papagno C, Semenza C, Girelli L (2013) Meeting an “impossible challenge” in semantic dementia: outstanding performance in numerical Sudoku and quantitative number knowledge. Neuropsychology 27(6):680–690. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034457
Peng P, Lin X, Ünal ZE, Lee K, Namkung J, Chow J, Sales A (2020) Examining the mutual relations between language and mathematics: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull 146(7):595–634. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000231
Peng P, Wang T, Wang C, Lin X (2019) A meta-analysis on the relation between fluid intelligence and reading/mathematics: effects of tasks, age, and social economics status. Psychol Bull 145(2):189–236. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000182
Powell SR, Driver MK, Roberts G, Fall A-M (2017) An analysis of the mathematics vocabulary knowledge of third- and fifth-grade students: connections to general vocabulary and mathematics computation. Learn Individ Differ 57:22–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2017.05.011
Pozniak C, Hemforth B, Scheepers C (2018) Cross-domain priming from mathematics to relative-clause attachment: a visual-world study in French. Front Psychol 9:2056. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02056
Praet M, Desoete A (2014) Number line estimation from kindergarten to grade 2: a longitudinal study. Learn Instr 33:19–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2014.02.0
Purpura DJ, Reid EE (2016) Mathematics and language: individual and group differences in mathematical language skills in young children. Early Child Res Q 36(Complete):259–268
Purpura DJ, Ganley CM (2014) Working memory and language: skill-specific or domain-general relations to mathematics? J Exp Child Psychol 122:104–121
Raven J (2000) The Raven’s progressive matrices: change and stability over culture and time. Cogn Psychol 41(1):1–48. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0735
Richland LE, Morrison RG, Holyoak KJ (2006) Children’ s development of analogical reasoning: insights from scene analogy problems. J Exp Child Psychol 94(3):249–273
Rohde TE, Thompson LA (2007) Predicting academic achievement with cognitive ability. Intelligence 35:83–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2006.05.004
Sacks CH, Mergendoller JR (1997) The Relationship between teachers’ theoretical orientation toward reading and student outcomes in kindergarten children with different initial reading abilities. Am Educ Res J 34(4):721–739. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312034004721
Scheepers C, Sturt P, Martin CJ, Myachykov A, Teevan K, Viskupova I (2011) Structural priming across cognitive domains. Psychol Sci 22(10):1319–1326. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611416997
She DS, Zou CY (2018) Investigation and countermeasures on the phenomenon of partial subjects of junior middle school students in rural Areas. The new campus, (03): 73
Shepard RN, Metzler J (1971) Mental rotation of 3-dimensional objects. Science 171(3972):701. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.171.3972.701
Singer V, Strasser K, Cuadro A (2019) Direct and indirect paths from linguistic skills to arithmetic school performance. J Educ Psychol 111(3):434–445. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000290
Slusser E, Ribner A, Shusterman A (2018) Language counts: early language mediates the relationship between parent education and children’s math ability. Dev Sci. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12773
Snowling MJ, Moll K, Hulme C (2021) Language difficulties are a shared risk factor for both reading disorder and mathematics disorder. J Exp Child Psychol 202:105009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2020.105009
So D, Siegel LS (1997) Learning to read Chinese: semantic, syntactic, phonological and working memory skills in normally achieving and poor Chinese readers. Read Writ 9(1):1–21. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007963513853
Stevenson H, Chen C, Lee S (1993) Mathematics achievement of Chinese, Japanese, and American children: ten years later. Science 259(5091):53–58. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.8418494
Su H (2018) Visual encoding and word processing in Chinese reading: evidence from eye movement studies. Doctoral dissertation, Zhejiang University
Tan LH, Liu HL, Perfetti CA, Spinks JA, Fox PT, Gao J-H (2001) The neural system underlying Chinese logograph reading. Neuroimage 13:836–846. https://doi.org/10.1006/nimg.2001.0749
Toll SWM, Van Luit JEH (2014a) The developmental relationship between language and low early numeracy skills throughout kindergarten. Except Child 81(1):64–78. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402914532233
Toll SWM, Van Luit JEM (2014b) Explaining numeracy development in weak performing kindergartners. J Exp Child Psychol 124(1):97–111
Van de Cavey J, Hartsuiker RJ (2016) Is there a domain-general cognitive structuring system? Evidence from structural priming across music, math, action descriptions, and language. Cognition 146:172–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2015.09.013
Vilenius-Tuohimaa PM, Aunola K, Nurmi J (2008) The association between mathematical word problems and reading comprehension. Educ Psychol 28(4):409–426. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410701708228
Vukovic RK, Lesaux NK (2013) The language of mathematics: investigating the ways language counts for children’s mathematical development. J Exp Child Psychol 115(2):227–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2013.02.002
Wilkinson LC (2018) Learning language and mathematics: a perspective from Linguistics and Education. Linguist Educ. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2018.03.005
Yang X, McBride C, Ho CS-H, Chung KKH (2019) Longitudinal associations of phonological processing skills, Chinese word reading, and arithmetic. Read Writ. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-019-09998-9
Zeng T, Mu Y, Zhu T (2021) Structural priming from simple arithmetic to Chinese ambiguous structures: evidence from eye movement. Cogn Process 22(2):185–207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-020-01003-4
Zhang FJ (2021) ERPs study on the brain mechanisms of sentence processing in native English speakers and Chinese English learners] Master thesis, Chongqing University.
Zhang YP, Yu ZS (2013) Research on the relationship between number-naming systems of Chinese and English and development of children’ s mathematical ability. J Shanghai Second Polytech Univ 02:141–146. https://doi.org/10.19570/j.cnki.jsspu.2013.02.011
Zhang H, Chen C, Zhou X (2012) Neural correlates of numbers and mathematical terms. NeuroImage 60(1):230–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.12.006
Zhang J, Fan X, Cheung SK, Meng Y, Cai Z, Hu BY (2017) The role of early language abilities on math skills among Chinese children. PLoS ONE 12(7):e0181074. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181074
Zou YC (2003) Information processing of developmental dyslexia in Chinese children]. South China Normal University, Guangzhou. https://kns.cnki.net/KCMS/detail/detail.aspx?dbname=CDFD9908&filename=2003075420.nh
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the grant from the 111 Project (Project No. BP0719032); the Natural Science Foundation of China (62277015); and the Science and Technology Project of Hebei Education Department (ZD2020158).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this article.
Ethical approval
The investigation received approval from the institutional review board (IRB) at the State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University.
Consent to participate
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Informed consent was obtained from legal guardian in the case of children under 16.
Informed consent
Informed consent was obtained from all the parents of the participants included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Editors: Massimiliano Palmiero (University of Teramo), Arnaud Badets (University of Bordeaux); Reviewers: Yoshimasa Majima (Hokusei Gakuen University), Adam Michael Larson (University of Findlay), and a third researcher who prefers to remain anonymous.
Impact Statement: This study proposed the structure correspondence hypothesis to explain under what conditions language and mathematics were closely correlated. The research examined examples of mathematics and language at the elemental level (geometric term processing and word analogy) and at the low-dimensional combination level (geometric principle processing and sentence completion) to validate the structure correspondence hypothesis. The results of the study supported the structure correspondence hypothesis, providing a new theoretical perspective for the fundamental scientific question of the relationship between language and mathematics.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Cui, J., Lv, L., Yang, F. et al. The structure correspondence hypothesis predicts how word and sentence in language correlate with term and principle in mathematics. Cogn Process 25, 305–319 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-023-01170-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-023-01170-0