The relationship between numerosity perception and mathematics ability in adults: the moderating role of dots number

BACKGROUND: It has been proposed that numerosity perception is the cognitive underpinning of mathematics ability. However, the existence of the association between numerosity perception and mathematics ability is still under debate, especially in adults. The present study examined the relationship between numerosity perception and mathematics ability and the moderating role of dots number (i.e., the numerosity of items in dot set) in adults. METHODS: Sixty-four adult participants from Anshun University completed behavioral measures that tested numerosity perception of small numbers and large numbers, mathematics ability, inhibition ability, visual-spatial memory, and set-switching ability. RESULTS: We found that numerosity perception of small numbers correlated significantly with mathematics ability after controlling the influence of inhibition ability, visual-spatial memory, and set-switching ability, but numerosity perception of large numbers was not related to mathematics ability in adults. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the dots number moderates the relationship between numerosity perception and mathematics ability in adults and may contribute to explaining the contradictory findings in the previous literature about the link between numerosity perception and mathematics ability.