View in EDS

Children's Numerical Estimation Is Biased by Male Informants More Than Female Informants.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Children's Numerical Estimation Is Biased by Male Informants More Than Female Informants.
Authors: Cracknell, Kathleen (AUTHOR), Hauss, Julia (AUTHOR), Chen, Miaofan (AUTHOR), Sierp, Robert (AUTHOR), Bian, Lin (AUTHOR), Wang, Jinjing (AUTHOR)
Source: Developmental Science. Mar2026, Vol. 29 Issue 2, p1-13. 13p.
Subjects: Gender stereotypes, Magnitude estimation, Social influence, Sex discrimination, Mathematical ability, School children
Abstract: Numerical estimation is one of the key early math skills and predicts children's long‐term math achievement. While children are born with an intuitive "number sense," they do not form a mapping between nonverbal numerical representations and symbolic numbers until about 5 years of age. This protracted learning process is embedded in children's interactions with other people, although little is known about how children's existing social beliefs may influence how they receive numerical information from other people. Meanwhile, children in the United States develop a stereotype to associate men with being better at math at around 6 years of age. Does this gender stereotype influence how children receive numerical information from other people? Using a numerical estimation task, we showed 5‐ to 7‐year‐old children (N = 198; 93 girls; United States) competing answers from a male and a female informant before asking children to provide their own answer. We found that children's answers were biased by the male informant more than the female, even when the female was accurate. This bias was domain‐specific, as there was no difference in children's performance on a memory control task. Furthermore, repeated exposure to inaccurate answers from a male informant (in contrast to accurate answers from a female informant) induced changes in children's estimation even when the informants were no longer present. Therefore, gender stereotypes may have profound impacts on how children acquire and process numerical information. Summary: Children form structural mappings between numerical quantities and their mental number line, which can be calibrated by numerical information from other people.Here, in two studies, we tested how informant gender influences children's estimation performance.Numerical information received from men has stronger calibration effects on children's estimation performance compared to information from women.Repeated exposure to overestimation from men has lasting impacts on children's subsequent estimation performance [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Developmental Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
Header DbId: pbh
DbLabel: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
An: 192091529
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Children's Numerical Estimation Is Biased by Male Informants More Than Female Informants.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Cracknell%2C+Kathleen%22">Cracknell, Kathleen</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hauss%2C+Julia%22">Hauss, Julia</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Chen%2C+Miaofan%22">Chen, Miaofan</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Sierp%2C+Robert%22">Sierp, Robert</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Bian%2C+Lin%22">Bian, Lin</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Wang%2C+Jinjing%22">Wang, Jinjing</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Developmental+Science%22">Developmental Science</searchLink>. Mar2026, Vol. 29 Issue 2, p1-13. 13p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subjects
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gender+stereotypes%22">Gender stereotypes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Magnitude+estimation%22">Magnitude estimation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+influence%22">Social influence</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sex+discrimination%22">Sex discrimination</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mathematical+ability%22">Mathematical ability</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22School+children%22">School children</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Numerical estimation is one of the key early math skills and predicts children's long‐term math achievement. While children are born with an intuitive "number sense," they do not form a mapping between nonverbal numerical representations and symbolic numbers until about 5 years of age. This protracted learning process is embedded in children's interactions with other people, although little is known about how children's existing social beliefs may influence how they receive numerical information from other people. Meanwhile, children in the United States develop a stereotype to associate men with being better at math at around 6 years of age. Does this gender stereotype influence how children receive numerical information from other people? Using a numerical estimation task, we showed 5‐ to 7‐year‐old children (N = 198; 93 girls; United States) competing answers from a male and a female informant before asking children to provide their own answer. We found that children's answers were biased by the male informant more than the female, even when the female was accurate. This bias was domain‐specific, as there was no difference in children's performance on a memory control task. Furthermore, repeated exposure to inaccurate answers from a male informant (in contrast to accurate answers from a female informant) induced changes in children's estimation even when the informants were no longer present. Therefore, gender stereotypes may have profound impacts on how children acquire and process numerical information. Summary: Children form structural mappings between numerical quantities and their mental number line, which can be calibrated by numerical information from other people.Here, in two studies, we tested how informant gender influences children's estimation performance.Numerical information received from men has stronger calibration effects on children's estimation performance compared to information from women.Repeated exposure to overestimation from men has lasting impacts on children's subsequent estimation performance [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Developmental Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=pbh&AN=192091529
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1111/desc.70124
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 13
        StartPage: 1
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Gender stereotypes
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Magnitude estimation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social influence
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Sex discrimination
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mathematical ability
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: School children
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Children's Numerical Estimation Is Biased by Male Informants More Than Female Informants.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Cracknell, Kathleen
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Hauss, Julia
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Chen, Miaofan
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Sierp, Robert
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Bian, Lin
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Wang, Jinjing
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 03
              Text: Mar2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 1363755X
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 29
            – Type: issue
              Value: 2
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Developmental Science
              Type: main
ResultId 1