Children's attention to numerical quantities relates to verbal number knowledge: An introduction to the Build-A-Train task.

Which dimension of a set of objects is more salient to young children: number or size? The 'Build-A-Train' task was developed and used to examine whether children spontaneously use a number or physical size approach on an un-cued matching task. In the Build-A-Train task, an experimenter assembles a train using one to five blocks of a particular length and asks the child to build the same train. The child's blocks differ in length from the experimenter's blocks, causing the child to build a train that matches based on either the number of blocks or length of the train, as it is not possible to match on both. One hundred and nineteen children between 2 years 2 months and 6 years 0 months of age (M = 4.05, SD = 0.84) completed the Build-A-Train task, and the Give-a-Number task, a classic task used to assess children's conceptual knowledge of verbal number words. Across train lengths and verbal number knowledge levels, children used a number approach more than a size approach on the Build-A-Train task. However, children were especially likely to use a number approach over a size approach when they knew the verbal number word that corresponded to the quantity of blocks in the train, particularly for quantities smaller than four. Therefore, children's attention to number relates to their knowledge of verbal number words. The Build-A-Train task and findings from the current study set a foundation for future longitudinal research to investigate the causal relationship between children's acquisition of symbolic mathematical concepts and attention to number.

Telephone-Delivered Physiotherapy Interventions Improve Physical Function for Adults With a Chronic Condition: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of telephone-delivered physiotherapy interventions to improve lower extremity physical function and walking in adults aged ≥45 years with a chronic condition. DATA SOURCES: A literature search was conducted using health databases (MEDLINE, PsychINFO, EMBASE, The Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature) up to April 26, 2020. Reference lists of relevant studies were explored to identify additional studies. STUDY SELECTION: The original search resulted in 3465 studies. Five other studies were included from hand searches. After duplicates were removed, 2820 studies remained. Title and abstract screening was completed independently by 2 authors and resulted in the exclusion of 2596 studies. The full-texts of the remaining 224 articles were assessed and 204 studies were excluded. Twenty articles were examined. DATA EXTRACTION: Data were extracted independently by 2 authors, including study, population, and intervention details; assessment timings; outcome characteristics; appropriateness of statistical methods; adverse events; and reasons for loss to follow-up. Study quality was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach. DATA SYNTHESIS: Twenty studies were included in the systematic review. One study was not meta-analyzed owing to insufficient data. Telephone-delivered physiotherapy had a small to moderate effect on distance walked compared with control groups with no exercise intervention (standardized mean difference [SMD], 0.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.00-0.56; I2, 45%) and no effect when compared with control groups with an exercise intervention not delivered by telephone (SMD, 0.08; 95% CI, -0.19 to 0.36; I2, 0%). CONCLUSION: Telephone-delivered physiotherapy may be an effective method to improve walking. Further research is required to validate these findings.