men sa i nte r n at i o n a l j o u r n a l Preschoolers grasp of numbers predicts mathematics performance in school years

(Baltimore, MD)A new study published today in the journal PLoS ONE reports that the precision with which preschoolers estimate quantities, prior to any formal education in mathematics, predicts their mathematics ability in elementary school, according to research from the Kennedy Krieger Institute. Humans have an intuitive sense of number that allows them, for example, to readily identify which of two containers has more objects without counting. This ability is present at birth, and gradually improves throughout childhood. Although its easier to compare quantities if the amounts differ greatly (such as 30 versus 15 objects), greater precision is needed when comparing items that are much closer in number. When this ability is measured during the school age years, it correlates with mathematics achievement. However, it has been unclear until now whether this intuitive ability actually serves as a foundation for school-age math abilities. Results of the new study show that childrens ability to make numerical estimates in preschool predicted their performance on mathematical tests taken in elementary school, more than two years later. The relationship appeared to be specific
mensa international journal december 2011

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such as blue or red crayons, had more items. In this new study, researchers measured the same childrens math abilities more than two years later using a standardized mathematics assessment that involved a wide range of skills like counting, reading and writing numbers, and simple arithmetic. It was striking to find evidence that basic number abilities at such a young age may play a role in formal math achievement, said Mazzocco. But additional studies are needed to determine whether these skills are malleable at an early age, how they contribute to math achievement and if they are related to other known influences on math performance.

to math ability, because preschool number skills did not predict other abilities, such as expressive vocabulary or the ability to quickly name objects like letters or numbers. Children vary widely in both their numerical and non-numerical cognitive abilities at all ages, said Dr. Michele Mazzocco, Director of the Math Skills Development Project at Kennedy Krieger Institute and lead author of the study. Based on earlier data showing a relationship between intuitive number skills and formal mathematics, we were interested to learn whether numerical skills measured prior to schooling predict the level of mathematics skills children demonstrate years later, in a formal educational setting. Mazzocco, along with researchers Lisa Feigenson and Justin Halberda of Johns Hopkins University, examined the performance of 17 children (7 girls, 10 boys) who had taken part in an earlier study of numerical abilities as preschoolers. At ages three and four, the children had been asked to judge which of two sets of objects,

About the Kennedy Krieger Institute Internationally recognized for improving the lives of children and adolescents with disorders and injuries of the brain and spinal cord, the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, MD serves more than 16,000 individuals each year through inpatient and outpatient clinics, home and community services and school-based programs. Kennedy Krieger provides a wide range of services for children with developmental concerns mild to severe, and is home to a team of investigators who are contributing to the understanding of how disorders develop while pioneering new interventions and earlier diagnosis. For more information on Kennedy Krieger Institute, visit www.kennedykrieger.org.
(www.eurekalert.com)

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books
Concepts of Intelligence by Thomas J. Hally (Dubb Editions). Part 1 presents more than 20 of the authors favorite essays on everything from Birth Order and Intelligence and Polyglottism to The Mozart Effect and Are Night Owls More Creative?. Part 2, Potpourri, contains more essays and some poems, with such titles as Metamorphoses, Brittany Woods and Noel, and Bell Bottoms with Suspenders, a few rendered in both English and Spanish. Tom has been the regular feature writer for Mensas International Journal as well as the editor of Telicom, the magazine of the International Society of Philosophical Enquiry. The Consulting Bible: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Expand a Seven-figure Consulting Practice by Alan Weiss, PhD ( John Wiley & Sons). Some say that consulting is just a euphemism for unemployed, but that aint necessarily so. And to prove that, Alans book takes you through the steps to write a winning proposal, establish value-based fees, accumulate testimonials and references, coach, resolve conflicts, negotiate, manage crises, and develop superior communications skills. Alan is a recognized independent consultant, and his Summensa international journal december 2011

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mit Consulting Group numbers among its clients Merck, Hewlett Packard, GE, and Mercedes-Benz. Play Fair! The Art of Relationship and Friendship by Kimberly A. Taylor (CreateSpace). Believing that a personal journey is a psychological quest through places and experiences, Kim shares her own personal life journey, one that has taken her through many foreign places and experiences, enabling her to discover the secrets of successful relationships. Showing you how she has conducted her own selfanalysis will teach you how to do the same. I could say Ive crossed many borders, not the least of which is psychological.the more we know about ourselves, the better we can understand others and, presumably, be understood by them. Other Heads and Other Tales by Dr. Arlan Andrews Sr. (Amazon Kindle). Arlan, the founder of SIGMA, the science-fiction think tank that provides the unique futurism of sci-fi writers to the US government, non-profit institutions, and others, informs me that he has a Kindle collection of stories that can be purchased for a small sum. Read them and share his thoughts on such fascinating questions as Were any of the Moon landings hoaxed?, What if everyone else in the world suddenly became many times smarter than you?, What if hundreds of millions of people were frozen in suspended animation?, What is that Face on Mars?, and many others. He has written for Analog, Asimovs, Fate, Strange, and others, has a regular column in UFO Magazine, and appeared on the History Channels Ancient Aliens: Ancient Constructions last fall. Hang On by Nell Gavin and Lynn ODell (Book and Quill Press). What a dilemma its 1973 and Hollys best shot at love and marriage to Trevor, a roadie for a famous British rock band, is threatened by a dark secret: not only is she plagued by panic attacks, periodic rages, and depression, but her mother committed suicide many years ago for reasons unknown and she must find out why. She conceals her symptoms from Trevor, but as they grow closer, she finds her illness more and more difficult to hide. But unknown to her, the condition causing her illness will not be discovered for another decade. Can she hold on, or lose everything? A Silver Medal winner in the Living Now Book Awards. Other Mensan-authored works received included: The Scuba Snobs Guide to Diving Etiquette by Debbie and Dennis Jacobson (AuthorHouse) is a collection of hilarious stories of scuba diving experiences and suggests rules that might avoid

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embarrassments and worse, and make diving a more pleasurable sport. The Quail Trail by Carol Butzbach (PublishAmerica) is poems, songs, and stories inspired by nature. Aequitas by Jack Denali (CreateSpace) is even more incomprehensible at least to me than the last Denali I reviewed (Vladmirs Pen) so Ill share a description by another reviewer: alternative future possibility from a global perspective. Second Thief, Best Thief: Tunnel Bar by Anthony Olszewski (UrbanTimes) records episodes observed in an inner-city bar in the late 70s/early 80s when America was post-industrial, pregentrification, and an alchemists mix of decay and renewal. In Prepared to Win: the 1977-2008 Boys State Tornament Basketball Coaches of West Central Ohio by Amy Zorn (Creative Marketing Strategies), fourteen Ohio high school basketball coaches describe the excitement of a state tournament, the reasons for success, the regimen, the competition, and everything that a team needs to take the floor in Columbus. Wheels within Wheels by Richard Kovac (PM Books) contains original and thought-provoking poems on the world, philosophy, and love. Israelity, a Novel: One Child Many Parents by Jim May (Tate Publications), a thriller in which a small-town police chief and his wife
mensa international journal december 2011

are kidnapped by a terrorist group operating out of Pennsylvania, half way around the world a Vatican archeologist may have discovered the remains of Jesus and Mary, and three nuclear devices are being aimed at Israel, all culminating in a nail-biting crescendo that will severely alter your sleep pattern. Serenade: Word Songs by Edie Schmoll (Trafford Publishing) contains 44 poems that will inspire joy and sadness, laughter and tears, and memories of love and loss. If It Doesnt Go Up, Dont Buy It: 3rd Edition by Albert W. Thomas (Williamsburg Investment Company) is a commonsense approach to investing, including a new plan introduced in this edition, that will keep you solvent and afloat despite the chaos of the current market. What Really Happened by Keith Lenart, Stuart Sharp, and Lee Arnold (self-published) is a parody of historical events, part true and part fabricated that may entice some readers to do a bit of research. An Ant: Learn to Read Home School Version, Book 1 (Ages 4-7) by Kallie Woods (Broden Books) is a complete package for teaching kindergarteners how to read: illustrated stories, companion flashcards, and practice pages.

supplementally ...
Rewind New Scientist, 20 August 2011, pp. 6 - 7. Chicken Revisits its Dinosaur Past. The development of organisms is directed by genes that function like massive computer programs. The overall program might be How to Build a Duck. But code modules explain how to make beaks or brains, and subroutines tell where to put them. Genetic engineers can modify developing organisms by tweaking those modules or by moving them around. Indeed, some scientists would like to reverse-engineer chickens into something resembling small dinosaurs. By inhibiting certain genes, they have been able to cause a chick embryo to develop a jaw like an alligator. (The embryo was not permitted to become a chick because of ethics rules.) Aside from possibly recreating dinosaurs, such research could some day eliminate human developmental problems, like cleft palate. Bigger is Better Science, 29 July 2011, p. 512. Russia Launches a Telescope, Decades in the Making. With ordinary light telescopes, a bigger aperture provides a better view. Brightness of the image and resolution of fine detail both increase with the size of the objective lens or collecting mirror. The biggest radiotelescopes are arrays made of many linked dish antennas. Performance is rated by baseline, which is the maximum distance between their compo-

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All books reviewed in this column are by Mensan authors.

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nent receiver dishes. Bigger baselines deliver finer resolution, though not necessarily brighter images. The widest baseline possible on the Earth is the planets diameter, a little more than 6,000 km. Yet, Russia is preparing a radiotelescope with a baseline of 340,000 km. They can do this because one of the component dishes will be in space. It is a satellite named Spekt-R that would have launched 30 years ago, but was held up by money problems. Spekt-R should get a detailed look at the jets associated with supermassive black holes, among other things. Arabian Knights ScienceDaily, 24 August 2011. Saudi Arabia Discovers 9,000 Year Old Civilization. According to most experts, horses were first domesticated in central Asia 5,500 years ago. Saudi archaeologists say this is wrong. They have dug up a civilization in the Arabian Peninsula where horse domestication started 9,000 years ago. Along with unspecified evidence of horse domestication, the site contains skeletons, arrow heads, and ancient tools. Far From Home Science News, 27 August 2011, pp. 5-6. Genes, Sightings Retrace Path of Cougars Journey. Dead animals are common along Americas highways. But we expect to find them close to their home turf. Raccoons in Ohio and armadillos in Florida are not surprising. But a 140 pound cougar found in New England is positively hair-raising. Scientists were able to track its movements back to the Black Hills of South Dakota through game cameras and
mensa international journal december 2011

spoor. They speculate that the big cat went east looking for a mate. With no breeding population east of the Black Hills, it kept searching right through Minnesota, Wisconsin, the upper peninsula of Michigan and Canada before becoming a traffic fatality near the Atlantic shore of Connecticut.

like modern reptiles. But what about marine reptiles of that time? A newly re-examined fossil plesiosaur turned out to have a fetus in her tummy, rather than a meal. This shows that at least some ocean going creatures of the dinosaur age gave birth to live young, one at a time. This is a trait common to mammals, but not to reptiles. Most Sympathy for the Devil marine creatures, extinct or extant, had BBC Knowledge, September/October multiple births. If plesiosaurs had only 2011p. 19. Tasmanian Devil Hope. one kid per birth, they must have been Tasmanian great parents. devils are Then again, the marsupial fetus found in carnivores the mom monnative only ster was toothy to the island and big - it state of Taswould probably mania, off the have been a south coast third as long as of Australia. its parent at deLooking livery. So, maybe like a cross it didnt need a between a lot of parental bull terrier attention. Tasmanian Devil and a black bear, devils fight for food and mates, Manipulative Microbes biting each other on the face a lot. This Science News online edition, 29 behavior spreads a transmissible cancer August 2011. Belly Bacteria Boss the that has wiped out 60% of their popu- Brain. (Proceedings of the National lation in less than two decades. Scien- Academy of Sciences) tists have identified a few devils that If you are a mouse, and you want are partially resistant to the cancer. By to feel mellow, you might eat some studying their DNA, they may be able Lactobacillus Rhamnosus. Mice that to guide captive breeding programs. eat a diet containing the bacterium It is all too possible that the entire have more of the messenger chemical remaining wild population of 40,000 GABA in their brains than mice that might have to die out to eradicate the eat the same diet without the bactedisease. Then the captive population rium. A message of mellowness travels would replace them. from the gut to the brain via the vagus nerve. It isnt clear why this should Mommysaurus happen, or whether it will do the same ScienceNow, 11 August 2011. Sea thing in people. But this work might Monster Had Bun in the Oven. provide some insight into anxiety, Dinosaurs living on dry land laid eggs depression, and even schizophrenia.

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