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lhsi writes:

Research into diagnostic markers of math competence in preschoolers looked at the ability to enumerate a number of dots (between 1 and 5). Dot enumeration is a marker of school-aged children's math competence, however this had not been looked at previously for preschool children.

The current study is the first study to show that preschoolers' dot enumeration abilities (in particular, dot enumeration efficiency) is a marker of emerging arithmetic competence, over and above the influence of working memory and response inhibition.

Further, compared to school children, preschoolers' dot enumeration abilities are just emerging and are characterised by greater variability in their responses. School-aged children likely process the dot enumeration task efficiently as their enumeration skills are more highly practiced; however, it is likely a novel task for preschoolers, and they may switch between counting and subitizing strategies to enumerate small sets.

In summary, the findings of the present study suggest that dot enumeration abilities, like magnitude comparison abilities, are markers of preschoolers' emerging math competence and likely have diagnostic value.