Which concept refers to the ability to say one number for each object pointed to or touched consecutively when counting?

• A. Number conservation
• B. One-to-one correspondence
• C. Subitizing
• D. Place value

Answer: (B)

One-to-one correspondence is the ability to attach one number word to each object as you point to or touch them in order while counting. This ensures you count every item exactly once and never assign the same number to multiple objects or skip an object. For example, when you count a row of blocks, touching each block once and saying a new number each time demonstrates this mapping. If you counted blocks but used the same number for two of them or missed one, you’d break the one-to-one linkage. Other terms describe different ideas: number conservation is about quantity staying the same despite rearrangement, subitizing is instantly recognizing small quantities without counting, and place value is about how digits’ positions affect value. The ability to map each item to a unique count word is what best fits this skill.