[Research Interests] [Publications] [Recent Presentations] [Current Projects] [Links]
My research concerns the systems and processes that underlie numerical and mathematical abilities in adults and children. More specifically I am interested in:
Mathematical and numerical cognition in adults
The development of mathematical cognition and dyscalculia
Using cognitive psychology research to support effective mathematics education
Individual differences in cognitive development
Gilmore, C.K., McCarthy, S.E., & Spelke, E.S. (2010). Non-symbolic arithmetic abilities and achievement in the first year of formal schooling in mathematics. Cognition, 115, 394-406. [PDF]
Mundy, E. & Gilmore, C.K. (2009). Children's mapping between symbolic and nonsymbolic representations of number. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 103, 490-502. [PDF]
Gilmore, C.K. & Papadatou-Pastou, M. (2009). Patterns of individual differences in conceptual understanding and arithmetical skill: A meta-analysis. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 11, 25-40. [PDF]
Gilmore, C.K. & Bryant, P. (2008). Can children construct inverse relations in arithmetic? Evidence of individual differences in the development of conceptual understanding and computational skill. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 26, 301-316. [PDF]
Gilmore, C.K. & Spelke, E. (2008). Children's understanding of the relationship between addition and subtraction. Cognition, 107, 932-945. [PDF]
Gilmore, C.K. & Inglis, M. (2008). Process- and object-based thinking in arithmetic. Proceedings of the 32nd Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Morelia, Mexico. [PDF]
Gilmore, C.K., McCarthy, S.E. & Spelke, E. (2007). Symbolic arithmetic knowledge without instruction. Nature, 447, 589-591. [Journal PDF] [Supplementary Information PDF]
Gilmore, C.K. (2006). Investigating children's understanding of inversion using the missing number paradigm. Cognitive Development, 21, 301-316. [PDF]
Gilmore, C.K. & Bryant, P. (2006). Individual differences in children's understanding of inversion and arithmetical skill. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 76, 309-331. [PDF] [See TRIPS research digest of this paper]
Stanton, D., Bayon, B., Abnett, C.K., Cobb, S. & O'Malley, C. (2002). The effect of tangible interfaces on children's collaborative behavior. Proceedings of Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), ACM Press, pp. 820-822.
Abnett, C.K., Stanton, D., Neale, H & O'Malley, C. (2001). The effect of multiple input devices on collaboration and gender issues. Proceedings of European Perspectives on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, pp. 29-36.
Attridge, N., Gilmore, C. K. & Inglis, M. J. (in press). Non-dyscalculic adults use of the approximate number system in symbolic addition. Research in Mathematics Education.
Gilmore, C.K., McCarthy, S.E., & Spelke, E.S. (2009). Relationships between symbolic and non-symbolic arithmetic in 5-year-old children Manuscript submitted for publication.
De Smedt, B., & Gilmore, C.K. (2009). Defective number module or impaired access? Numerical magnitude processing in first graders with mathematical difficulties. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Spelke, E. S., Gilmore, C. K. & McCarthy, S. E. (submitted). Kindergarten children's sensitivity to geometry in maps. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Attridge, N., Gilmore, C. K., & Inglis, M. (2010, April). Is non-symbolic number sense related to formal mathematics ability? First Joint Conference of the EPS and SEPEX, Granada, Spain.
Gilmore, C.K. & De Smedt, B. (2009, September). Can number sense training support children's early understanding and proficiency with arithmetic? Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society Developmental Section, University of Nottingham.
Gilmore, C.K. & Papadatou-Pastou, M. (2009, August). Individual differences in children's use of the inverse shortcut for arithmetic problems. 13th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Inglis, M., Gilmore, C.K., & Attridge, N. (2009, July). Reverse operational mmomentum in symbolic arithmetic. Cultural effects on the mental number line, University of York.
Mundy, E. & Gilmore, C.K. (2008, August). Children's ability to map between symbolic and nonsymbolic representations of number. Poster presented at the British Psychological Society Developmental Section Conference, Oxford.
Gilmore, C. K. & Inglis, M. (2008, Jul). Process- and object-based thinking in arithmetic. 32nd Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Morelia, Mexico. [slides, 832k].
This work is funded by a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the British Academy. It examines the nature of children's early numerical abilities. See the project page for more information.
This project is funded by the ESRC and explores the characteristics of adults' non-symbolic numerical system and the extent to which this system is related to mathematical ability. See the project page for more information.
This project is funded by the Esmèe Fairbairn Foundation and explores how to develop children's conceptual understanding of equality. See the project page for more information.
In collaboration with Bert de Smedt, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, and funded by a small research grant from the British Academy, this project investigated computer-based interventions for children at the early stages of learning mathematics. The project used a randomized controlled study to test the effectiveness of software designed based on cognitive-neuroscience principles to support children's number sense, compared to alternative computer-based maths software, in helping children develop basic arithmetic skills. The project investigated how this intervention could be incorporated into existing mathematics teaching in two different educational systems and tested current theories of numerical cognition by examining how children's number sense is related to school mathematics. [See report of this project for teachers / parents]
In collaboration with Elizabeth Spelke and Shannon McCarthy at the Laboratory for Developmental Studies, Department of Psychology at Harvard University, this project looked at kindergarten children's symbolic and non-symbolic numerical abilities, how they relate to their performance of school mathematics and how robust these abilities are across different populations.
I am a member of the East Midlands Mathematical Cognition Group. For more information about this group and our regular meetings see the group pages
In 2007 Matthew Inglis and I organised a workshop on Mathematical thinking, funded by the British Academy, the Nuffield Foundation and Routledge. More information and videos of the presentations are available here