FIGURE 10.4 Twelve or Two-Teen? The arbitrary English “twelve” versus the logical Chinese “ten-two” puts children learning counting in English at a disadvantage. The percentage of American children who can count through the cardinal numbers drops off suddenly when they hit the number 11, whereas the percentage of Chinese children shows a more gradual decline (Miller, Smith, & Zhu, 1995). (Data from Miller, Smith, & Zhu, 1995.)