Cognitive and behavioral attention in children with math difficulties

Abstract

Cognitive assessments and behavioral ratings of attention were used to examine the relation of inattention to math performance in children. Third grade students with math difficulties (MD; n = 17) and math and reading difficulties (MDRD; n = 35) were administered the Attentional Network Test (ANT), as well as achievement and intelligence measures. Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD-Symptoms and Normal-Behavior-IV (SWAN-IV) Inattention ratings were collected from teachers. Two comparison groups were also recruited: a typically achieving group (n = 23) and a group that responded to a math-tutoring intervention (responders; n = 54). On the ANT, children with MD and MDRD did not perform significantly different than typically achieving children or responders on measures of alerting and orienting attention and executive control. All subgroups did demonstrate performance patterns that were expected on the ANT. However, performance across blocks of the task was inconsistent, suggesting poor reliability. There were no relations between ANT performance and SWAN-IV behavioral inattention scores, though behavioral ratings of inattention correlated significantly with math performance. Children with MD and MDRD may have more difficulty with distraction and attention to detail in contextual situations, as opposed to impulsive responding in these settings. The lack of relation between cognitive attention and math performance may suggest that either the ANT does not assess the relevant attention constructs associated with math difficulties or may parallel studies of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in which cognitive and behavioral assessments are weakly related.

Effects of Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematical Metacognition on Word Problem Solving in Children with and without Mathematical Learning Difficulties

“…In these cases, children will be classified as MLD who in fact typically show improved achievement scores in later grades. More recently, while some studies [ 59 ] still use one mathematical achievement score to identify children with MLD, others [ 60 ] have begun to use longitudinal analysis to collect children’s mathematical achievement scores for two or more years. If children consistently fell into the same range, they were classified into the same group.…”

Comparison of sleep problems in children with anxiety and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders

“…The ANT is a computer based test, developed by Posner and his research group (153), and has been adapted for children (149). No norms are available and some concern has been raised regarding the test-retest reliability of the different networks (154,155). The test has been widely used in both typically developing children and in clinical populations (149,154,156).…”

Longitudinal relations among inattention, working memory, and academic achievement: testing mediation and the moderating role of gender

“…Inattention and math achievement. Teacher-rated inattention is an independent predictor of performance in multiple achievement domains that are important throughout the elementary school years, including arithmetic fluency ( Fuchs et al, 2006 ; Lewandowski et al, 2007 ), arithmetic word problems ( Fuchs et al, 2006 ; Swanson, 2011 ) and algorithmic computation ( Fuchs et al, 2006 ; Li & Geary, 2013 ; Raghubar et al, 2009 ), as well as for composites of arithmetic fluency and algorithmic computation ( Fitzpatrick & Pagani, 2013 ; Gold et al, 2013 ). These three domains of math are distinguishable ( Fuchs et al, 2006 ).…”