Finger counting is widely used by young children to solve math problems. However, there are some who believe that, at some point, finger counting may hamper learning math. Swiss researchers wanted to know if children between four and six who counted on their fingers had any benefit when learning math compared to children who never relied on finger counting. The study, appearing in the journal Developmental Psychology, tested young children twice a year and video taped some while they did math problems. By age seven and one-half, forty-three percent of children were ex-finger counters, fifty percent still counted on their fingers and seven percent had never used their fingers. Overall, they found that the highest performing children were those who had previously been finger counters and, thus, there is no reason to believe finger counting will limit their math abilities.