The Use of Perceptual Cues for Number Judgment by Young Children

3-, 4½-, and 6-year-olds were administered a static, 3-choice number judgment task consisting of 16 problems which varied in magnitude of number (N) and in number difference (NΔ), length difference (LΔ), and density difference (DΔ) ratios. When N and LΔ were small and NΔ and DΔ large, all age groups made a high percentage of accurate number judgments. When N was large and NΔ small, all age groups judged on the basis of length. On most problems older children were more accurate than younger children, and on no problem was any younger group more accurate than any older group.