An Investigation of the Frequency of Time and Number Words Used in Informal Conversations with Children

A major debate in the field of cognition is how quantities—such as time and number—are processed. One theory suggests that all quantities are processed by a singular cognitive mechanism (i.e., a common magnitude system; Walsh, 2003). If this were the case, then quantity processing abilities should be comparable regardless of the quantity being studied. Yet, previous research reveals that children’s non-symbolic timing abilities are consistently worse than numerical abilities (Odic et al., 2015), which casts doubt on the likelihood of a common magnitude system. One potential explanation for this discrepancy is that children and adults use more number words in informal conversations, which may in turn sharpen their non-symbolic numerical abilities. While number talk has been investigated for many years, to our knowledge, no studies have investigated the frequency of time talk in informal conversations. This study investigates whether there is a difference in the frequency of number and time words during informal conversations involving children in multiple settings. We found a low frequency of both number (3.18% of utterances) and time (1.23% of utterances) words, but time words were significantly less frequent ( t (418) = -9.88, p < 0.001, d = .45). Both children and adults spoke more number words compared to time words (Speaker type x quantity interaction: F (1,480) = 1.50, p = 0.22, η2 = .003). This research sheds light on the frequency of quantity words in informal conversations and may explain discrepancies in children’s numerical and temporal abilities. Future research should investigate whether the minimal amount of time talk contributes to children’s poorer non-symbolic timing abilities.