Number constancy

First sequence

Second sequence

Third sequence

Number constancy denotes the insight into the constancy of a set of objects when the spatial arrangement varies or when the set is represented differently . Many mathematicians are not yet constant in number. They therefore do not know which property of a set is denoted by number.

Number constancy with variation of the spatial arrangement

Number constancy test, 1st sequence: The test person should estimate which number of objects is larger without counting.

In the second step, the test person should check his answer by moving the stones. If he does not manage to make the 1: 1 assignment himself, he will be helped. Practically all children, including those with poor math, judge the number of objects in this arrangement to be the same.

After the 1: 1 assignment is destroyed, many poorly computational children react in a variant, i.e. not constant in number. They mean, although they have established the equality of the sets in the second sequence, that the sets are of different sizes in the third sequence.

Number constancy with different representation

The procedure here is analogous to the test for constancy of the number when the spatial arrangement varies, except that larger objects are used in one row.