He began with the little finger--and so did every
child in the room after him. In another case the same error was made by the
teacher, and the child first asked began with the thumb. Every other child
in the room did the same, each following, consciously or unconsciously, the
example of the leader. The results from these two schools were of course
rejected from the totals which are given above; but they serve an excellent
purpose in showing how slight is the preference which very young children
have in this particular. So slight is it that no definite law can be
postulated of this age; but the tendency seems to be to hold the palm of
the hand downward, and then begin with the thumb. The writer once saw a boy
about seven years old trying to multiply 3 by 6; and his method of
procedure was as follows: holding his left hand with its palm down, he
touched with the forefinger of his right hand the thumb, forefinger, and
middle finger successively of his left hand. Then returning to his
starting-point, he told off a second three in the same manner. This process
he continued until he had obtained 6 threes, and then he announced his
result correctly. If he had been a few years older, he might not have
turned so readily to his thumb as a starting-point for any digital count.
The indifference manifested by very young children gradually disappears,
and at the age of twelve or thirteen the tendency is decidedly in the
direction of beginning with the little finger.
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