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Introduction: While the environment plays a critical role in shaping numerical abilities, most of our understanding stems from Western countries, which in turn creates the risk of overgeneralising. This study aimed to expand our knowledge by comparing early numerical development and environmental factors surrounding it in children from both South Africa and the UK. We hypothesised differences between the performances of both groups and between the environmental factors.
Method: 93 UK children (M = 3.67 years, SD = 0.54) and 102 South African children (M = 4.46 years, SD = 0.48) participated. Caregivers completed background, socioeconomic status (SES), and Home Math Environment (HME) questionnaires. Children were assessed on a range of symbolic and non-symbolic numerical tasks.
Results: Series of ANCOVAs showed that UK children outperformed South African children in most numerical tasks, F(1,191)=9.31, p>0.01, largely supporting our hypothesis. Groups were also significantly different in all three questionnaires F(1,145)=15.9, p<0.05. Further regression analyses showed that age, caregiver expectations and multilingualism were the most influential in UK children’s performance, although they had a limited impact in South Africa. This aligns with prior research suggesting weak associations between tested environmental factors and numerical performance in Majority World contexts.
Conclusion: These findings highlight cross-cultural differences in early numeracy and emphasise the need for caution when generalising environmental influences. More research in underrepresented regions is crucial to uncover culturally and contextually relevant factors shaping numerical development globally.
