\_-,

rirffii

\*"

ffi
hreepictureshangin front of a sixrnonth-oldchild.Thefirst showstwo
dots, the others show one dot and

showingon dice,Whatis this ability?When and

how doesit develop?Is it a specialway ofcounting?Shouldwe teachit?

Subitizing:A Long History

Subitizing is "instantly seeinghow many." From a

Latin word meaning suddenly, subitizing is the
direct perceptual apprehensionof the numerosity
eyesmoveto thepicturewith threedots.
of a group. In the first half of the century
use the researchersbelieved that counting did not imply a
Young children spontaneously
ability to recognizeand discriminatesmall true understaudingof number but that subitizing
numbers of objects (Klein and Starkey did (e.g., Douglass U9251). Many saw the role of
schoolchildren subitizing as a developmental prerequisite to
1988).But someelementary
namethenumberof pips counting. Freeman(1912) suggestedthat whercas
cannotimmediately
measurementfocused on the whole and counting
focused on the unit, only subitizing focused on
Do*g Clements, clements@acsu.bufalo.edu, teaches mathematics education courses at the
both the whole and the unit; therefore, subitizing
Stdte University of New York-Bufalo, Bufalo, NY 14260. He is interested in computer appli'
underlay number ideas.Carper (1942) agreedthat
cations in mathematics ed.rcation, the early developntent of mathematical ideas, and the
subitizing was more accurate than counting and
Ieaming and teaching of geometry.
more effective in abstract situations.
Time to prepare this material was partially provided by "An Investigation of the Developrnail
In the second half of the century, educators
of Elenentary Childrenh Geometric Thinking in Computer and Noncomputer Ewironnents,"
severalmodels of subitizing and countdeveloped
National Science Foundation research grant no. ESI-8954664. Any opinions, Jindings, and
ing. They basedsornerirodels on the same notion
conclusiow or recommendations expressedin thi.spublication are those of the author and do
not necessarily reflect the vians ofthe National Science Foundation.
that subitizing was a more "basic" skill than counting (Klahr and Wallace 1976; Schaeffer,Eggle.

Her
threedots.The infanthearsthreedrumbeats,

^
.

400

TEAEHINGCHILDRENMATHEMATIGS
Copyrlght@ 1999The NationalCouncilofTeachersof Mathematics,Inc. wwwnctm.org.All righls reserued.
This materialmay hoi be copiedor distributedelectronicallyor in any otherformatwithoutwrittenpermlssionfrom NCTM.

ston,and Scott 1974).Onereasonwasthat children

can subitize directly through interactionswith the
environment,without social interactions.Suppoding this position, Fitzhugh (1978) found that some
childlen could subitize sets of one or two but were
not able to count them. None of thesevery you11g
children, however,was able to count any setsthat
he or she could not subitize. She concluded that
subitizing is a necessary precursor to counting.
Celtainly, research with infants suggests that
young children possess and spontaneouslyuse
subitizing to represent the number contained in
small sets and that subitizing emetges before
counting(Klein and Starkey1988).
As logical as this position seems,counterarguments exist, ln 1924, Beckmann found that
younger children used countingrather than subitizing (cited in Solter t1976)). Othersagreedthat children develop subitizing later, as a shortcut to
counting (Beckwith and Restle 1966; Brownell
1928; Silverman and Rose 1980). Itt this view,
subitizing is a form of rapid counting (Gelman and
Galtistel1978).
Researchersstill disputethe basis for subitizing
ability, with pattems and attentional rnechanisms
the main explanations(Chi and Klahr 1975; Mandler and Shebo1982;von Glaserfeld1982),Lower
animal speciesseemto have somepercephralnumber abilities, but only birds and primates also have
shown the ability to connect a subitized number
with a written mark or an auditory label (Davis and
Perusse1988).

TWo lYpes of Subitizing

Given that animals are able to subitize,is this procedurea low-level process?Not necessarily.A sittgle mechanism may not underlie all forms of
subitizing. We can resolve researchcontradictions
by recognizing that two tlpes of subitizing exist.

'*-

ability seemsobvious to us. However,"cutting out"

pieces of experience,keeping them separate,and
then coordinating them with number words is no
small task for young children. Even when they
count their fingers, for example,they have to mentally "cut out" onepart of the hand from the next to
create units. They then have to connect each of
theseunits with one, and only one, numberword.

Gonceptual subitizing
But how is it that people see an eight-dot domino
and "just know" the total number?They are using
the secondtype of subitizing. Concephralsubitizrole. Feoplewho
ing plays an advanced-organizing
'Just know" the domino's number recognize the
number pattern as a composite of parts and as a
whole. They see each side of the domino as composed of four individual dots and as "one foul."
They seethe domino as composedoftwo groups of
four and as "one eight." Thesepeople are capable
of viewing number and number patternsas units of
units (Steffeand Cobb 1988).
Spatialpatterns,such as those on dom'inoes,are
just one kind. Other pattems are temporal and
kinesthetic, including finger pattems, rhythmic
patterrrs, and spatial-auditory patterns. Creating
and using these pattems through conceptual
subitizing help children develop abstract number
and arithmetic strategies(Steffe and Cobb 1988).
For example,children use temporal pattems when
counting on: 'ol knew there were tlu'ee more, so I
just said, 'Nine . . . ten, eleven,tvvelve,'" rhythmically gesturing three times, one "beat" with each
count. They use finger pattems to figure out addition problems. Children who cannot subitize conceptually are handicappedin leaming such arithmetic plocesses.Children who can may subitize
only small numbersat fu'st. Suchactions,however,
can be stepping-stonesto conskucting more
sophisticatedplocedureswith larger numbers.

Perceptual subitizing

Subitizing and counting

Percephralsubitizing is closestto the original definition of subitizing: recognizing a number without

using other mathematicalprocesses.For example,
children might "see 3" without using any leamed
mathematical knowledge. Perceptual subitizing
may involve mechanismssimilar to those used by
animals. Two-year-old children show this ability
clearly (Gelman and Gallistel 1978). Perceptual
subitizing accountsfor sornesurprisingabilities of
infants, such as the one describedat the beginning
of this article.
Perceptual subitizing also plays aL evet more
primitive role, one that most of us do not eventhink
about becausewe take it for granted.This role is
making units, or single "things," to count. This

Young childlen may use perceptual subitizing to

make units for counting and to build their initial
ideas of cardinality. For example,their fir'st cardinal meaningsfor number words may be labels for
small sets of subitized objects, even if they determined the labels by counting (Fuson 1992; Steffe,
Thompson, and Richards 1982). Children use
counting and patterning abilities to develop conceptual subitizing. This more advancedability to
group and quantify sets quickly in tum suppofis
their developmentof numbel senseand arithmetic
abilities. A first grader explainsthe processfor us.
Seeinga three-by-threepattern of dots, she immediately says, "Nine." Asked how she reachedher
answeEshe rcplied as follows:

MARCH 1999

4CI1

WhenI wasaboutfour yearsold, I wasin nurseryschool.

All I hadto do wascount.And so,Ijust go like 1,2,3,4,5,
6,7, 8,9, andI just knewit by heartandI kepton doingit
whenI was five too. And thenI kept knowing9, you know.
Exactlylike this [shepointedto the anay of nine dots].
(Ginsberg1977,L6)

symmetry and irregular arrangements(Carper

1942;Dawson1953).Such complexityhinders
errors,andencoursubitizing,increases
conceptual
counting.
agessimpleone-by-one

lmplications for Teaching

What Factori frlafe
Gonceptual Subitizing
Easy or Hard?
how difof setsinfluences
Thespatialarrangement
ficult they are to subitize.Childrenusually find
easies!followedby linreciingularanangements
(Beckear,circular,and scrambledarrangements
with andRestle1966;Wang,Resnick,andBoozer
true for students
1971).Thi'sprogression'holds
from theprimarygradesto college.
. Ceftain arrangements
arg easierfor specific
yieldinga better"ftt" for a
Arrangements
numbers.
1928).Children
givennumberareeasier(Qrowne.ll
makefewererrorsfor tert.dotdthanfor eightwhen
dots are in the "domino five" anangementbut
makefewer errorsfor eight'dotswhep usingthe
"dominofoui'' arrangement.
. For young children, however,neitherof thesearangementsis easierfor anynumber
of dots. Indeed,two- to fouryear-oldsshow no differences
among any affangementsof
four or feweritems (Potterand
Levy 1968).For larger numare
bers, linear arrangements
arrangeeasierthanrectangular
ments.It seems,then,thatmost

Subitizing is an important mathematics skill. But

can subitizing be "taught"? Somemight arguethat
it cannot, but that conclusion dependson what is
meantby o'teach,"EverybodyCountssays,"In reality, no one can teachmathematics.Effective teachers are those who can stimulate studentsto learn
mathematics" (National Research Council 1989,
58). I agree only if we define teaching as mere
"telling." But I define teaching more broadly
(Clements 1997).Those who stimulate studentsto
learn--by settingup experiences,by guiding investigations, and sometimesby telling-arc teaching.
Conceptual subitizing must be learned and therefore be fostered, or taught, in this broad sense'
How might we teach it?

Gonceptual subitizing and number

Many numberactivitiescan promoteconceptual

subitizing.Oneparticularlyrich activityis "quick
students,
images."WhenI playit with kindergarten
I havetwo studentsstandon oppositesidesof an
overheadprojector.One studentholds a pack of
cardswith holespunchedin them (seefig. I for
someexamples).That studentplacesone of the
projector,andthe otherstucardson the overhead
denttakesit offas fast assheor he can.Thenthe
membersof the classand I raceto announcethe
aredelightedthatthey
numberof dots.My students
often(andhonestly!)beatme to theanswer.
Weplayby usingcardslike thosein thetop row
prescnool
cnlldrel1 cannot
showsthatrectanguresearch
offigure 1, because
subitize conceptually. Instead, they count one by
are easiestfor young
one. By school age,they can leam to subitize con- lar and dice anangements
ceptually, although first graders' limits for subitiz- childreninitially.At first I limit the gameto small
aredevelopingconing scrambled auangementsis about four or five numbers.Only whenstudents
ceptualsubitizingdo we play with morecomplex
items (Da*son 1953),
doesnot lenditselfto group- patternslike thosein thebottomrow.
If theanangement
Of themanyworthwhilevariationsof thequicking, peopleof any agehavernoredifficulty with
largersets(Brownell 1928).They alsotakemore image activity,someale suitablefor studentsin
time with largersets(BeckwithandRestle1966). anyelementatygrade.
find subitizing parlicSomespecialpopulations
ularly difficult. Only a minority (31%)of moder- . Havestudentsconstructa quick-imagearrangementwith mauipulatives.
childrenand a slight majority
ately handicapped
childrencansuccess- . With cardslike thosein figure 1, play a match(59%o)
ofmildly handicapped
ing game..Show severalcatd5,all but one of
fully subitizesetsof threeandfour items(Baroody
which "havethe same number.Ask children
1986).
which carddoesnot belong.
Finally, textbooksoften presentsetsthat dis.
Play concentrationgameswith cardsthat have
couragesubitizing.Their picturescombinemany
for eachnumber.For a
inlibiting factors,includingcomplexembedding, different an'angements
game
and
othe.lhelpfulactivities,
versionof this
differentunitswith poorform (e.g.,birdsthatwerg
1
(1976).
seeBaratta-Lorton
lackof
to squares),
nbt simpldin designasopposed

\_<

402

TEAGI{ING CHILDREN MATHEMATICS

'\*.

. Give eachchild cardswith zero through ten dots

in different arrangements.Have studentsspread
the cards in front of them. Then announce a
number. Studentsfind the matching card as fast
as possible and hold it up. Have them use different setsof cards,with different affangements,on
different days. Later, hold up a written numeral
as their cue.Adapt other card gamesfor usewith
these card sets (see Clements and Callahan

Cards for quick-imagesactivity.Punch holes in three-by'five'inch

cards and display them on an overheadprojector'

t1e86l).

. Place various arrangemontsof dots on a large

sheet of poster board. With students gathered
around you, point out one ofthe groups as sftldents say its number as fast as possible.Hold the
poster board in a different orientation each time
you PlaY.
. Challenge studentsto say the numberthat is one
(tater, two) more than tlle number on the quick
image. They might also respond by showing a
numeral card or writing the numeral. Altematively, they can find the arrangementthat matches the numeral that you show.
. Encouragestudentsto play any ofthdse gamesas
a free-time or station activifY'
The developmentof imagery is another reason
that these activities are valuable. Conceptual
subitizing is a componentof visualization in a7lits
\*
forms (Markovits and Hershkowitz 1997). Chlldrenrefer to mental imageswhen they discusstheir
strategies.in addition, we can enhancestudents'
knowledge of both geometry and number by purposely combining the two. For example,play quick
imageswith arrangementslike the one in figure 2.
'A
Older studentsmight say, squarehas four sides,
and there were two dotsjust on eachside, and four
more on the cotners, so I figured twelve."
Also play quick imagesthat involve estimation.
For example, show studentsarangements that are
too large to subitize exactly.Encouragethem to use
subitizing in their estimationstrategies'Emphasize
that using good strategiesand being "close" al'ethe
goals, not getting the exact number. Begin with
organized geometric pattems, but include scrambled anangementseventually.Encourageshrdents,
especially those in higher grades, to build more
sophisticatedstrategies:from guessing,to counting
as much as possible and then guessing,to comparing ("It was more than the previous one"), to
grouping ("They are splead about four in each
place. I circled groups offour in my head and then
counted six groups. So, fwenty-four!"). Students
do perform better, and use more sophisticated
strategiesand frames of reference,after engaging
''---.in such activities (Markovits and Hershkowitz
1997). For these and for all subitizing activities,
stop frequently to allow studentsto sharetheir perMARCH '999

Geometricand numericalPattern

oooo
o
o
o
o
c oo o
ceptionsand strategies.
Across many types of activities, from class discussionsto textbooks, students should be shown
pich:res of numbers that encoulage conceptual
subitizing. Initially, groups to be subitized should
follow tlrese guidelines: (a) groups should not be
embeddedin pictorial context; (b) simple forms,
such as homogeneousgl'oupsof circles or squares
rather than pictures of animals or mixtures of any
shapes,should be used for the wrils; (c) reguiar
affangements should be emphasized, and most
should include symmstry,with linear arrangements
for preschoolersand rectangularanangementsfor
older studentsbeing easiest; and (d) good figureground contrastshould be used.
Remember that pattems can also be temporal
and kinesthetic, including rhythmic and spatialauditory patterns. My kindergartners' favorite
numeral-writing activities iuvolve auditory
lhythms. They scatteraround the classroomon the
floor with individual chalkboards.I walk alound
the room, then stop and make a number of sounds,

403

such as ringing a bell three times. They write the

numeral 3 on their chalkboardsand hold them up.
Specialpopulations deservespecial attention to
subitizing. Because conceptual subitizing often
depends on accurate enumeration skill, teachers
should remedy deficiencies in counting early
(Baroody 1986). Cultivate a familiarity with regular patterns by playing games that use dice or
dominoes.Most important, do not take basic number competencies,such as subitizing, for grantedin
specialpopulations.

Conceptual subitizing
and arithmetic
Use conceptual subitizing to develop ideas about
additionand subtraction.It providesan early basis
for addition, as students"see the addendsand the
sum as in 'two olives and two olives make four
olives"'(Fuson 1992,248).A benefitof subitizing
activities is that different arrangementssuggest
different views of that number (fig. 3).
Conceptual subitizing can also help students
advanceto more sophisticated addition and subtraction. For example,a studentmay add by counting on one or two, solving 4 + 2 by saying "4, 5,
6," but be unable to count on five or more, as
would be requiredto solve4 + 5 by counting"45, 6,7,8, 9." Countingon two, however,gives
them a way to figure out how counting on works.
Later they can learn to count on with larger numbers by developing their conceptual subitizing or
Differentarrangementslead to different decompositions
of that number

by learning different ways of "keeping track."

Children can use familiar spatial pattems to
develop conceptual subitizing of arithmetic. For
example,studentscan use tens frames to visualize
addition combinations(fig. a). Suchpattern recognition can assist studentswith mental handicaps
and learning disabilities as they leam to rccognize
the five- and ten-fi'ame configuration for each
number. "These anangements. . . help a student
first to recognizethe number and use the model in
calculating sums. It is this image of the number
that stays with the sfirdent and becomes significant" (Flexer 1989).Visual-kinestheticfinger pattel'nscan similarly help, especiallywith the important number combinationsthat sum to 10.
Eventually,studentscome to recognizenumber
pattemsas both a whole-a unit itself-and a compositeof parls-individual units.At this stage,a student is capableof viewing numberand number pattems as units of units (Steffe and Cobb 1988). For
example,studentscanrepeatedlyanswerwhat number is "10 mote" than anothernumber."What is 10
o'43!"
ooTen
more?"
more than 23?" "331."

Final Words
"subitizing is a fundamentalskill in the development of students' understanding of number"
(Baroody 1987, 115). Studentscan use pattem
recognition to discoveressentialpropediesofnumbeq such as conselation and compensation.They
can developsuchcapabilitiesasunitizing, counting
on, and composing and decomposingnumbers, as
well as their understandingof arithmetic and place
value-all valuable componentsof number sense,

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o
o
oo
Oo
I o
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o
a

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oo
oo
oo o
oo o
oo o

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