Pathways to Mathematics: Longitudinal Predictors of Performance

Abstract

A model of the relations among cognitive precursors, early numeracy skill, and mathematical outcomes was tested for 182 children from 4.5 to 7.5 years of age. The model integrates research from neuroimaging, clinical populations, and normal development in children and adults. It includes 3 precursor pathways: quantitative, linguistic, and spatial attention. These pathways (a) contributed independently to early numeracy skills during preschool and kindergarten and (b) related differentially to performance on a variety of mathematical outcomes 2 years later. The success of the model in accounting for performance highlights the need to understand the fundamental underlying skills that contribute to diverse forms of mathematical competence.

Identifying the cognitive predictors of early counting and calculation skills: Evidence from a longitudinal study

“…Proficiency with formal calculations increases dramatically during the first years of schooling Levine et al, 1992;Rasmussen & Bisanz, 2005). The importance of these number skills is supported by empirical studies indicating that both early counting (Aunola, Leskinen, Lerkkanen, & Nurmi, 2004;Johansson, 2005) and calculation (Krajewski & Schneider, 2009;LeFevre et al, 2010;Aunio & Niemivirta, 2010) …”

“…Visual-spatial STM supports the generation, retention and manipulation of visual-spatial information (Logie, 1995) and is a predictor of mathematical attainment in early childhood (Bull, Espy, & Wiebe, 2008;Krajewski & Schneider, 2009;LeFevre et al, 2010;Simmons, Singleton, & Horne, 2008). However, the specific early number skills that visual-spatial STM underpins remain ambiguous.…”

“…For example, phonological representations are utilised in tasks such as arithmetic fact retrieval, whilst visual-spatial representations are utilised in tasks such as number comparison where reference to an internal number line is required. Dehaene's model has influenced developmental models of early mathematics with both LeFevre et al's (2010) pathways model and Krajewski and Schneider's (2009) arithmetical development model proposing that phonological processing, visual-spatial STM and quantitative skills differentially influence the development of different number skills. These cognitive skills therefore form the focus of the current study.…”

“…Theoretical models (Krajewski & Schneider, 2009;LeFevre et al, 2010) have identified verbal, visual-spatial and quantitative abilities as important independent predictors of mathematical development. The current study examines the influence of these abilities on the development of early number skills.…”

Contribución de los Componentes de la Memoria de Trabajo a la Eficiencia en Aritmética Básica Durante la Edad Escola

“…De esta forma, en su rendimiento se involucran procesos de MT que no son evaluados en las pruebas curriculares. Además, varias evidencias muestran que la aritmética simple y otras habilidades numéricas básicas como, por ejemplo, las habilidades de procesamiento de símbolos numéricos y las vinculadas al sistema numérico aproximado, son buenos predictores del desempeño posterior en tareas matemáticas (De Smedt et al, 2009;LeFevre et al, 2010;Reigosa-Crespo et al, 2013). Considerando estos elementos, para explorar la contribución que tienen los componentes de la MT al desempeño matemático, resultaría recomendable el uso de tareas que exploren el rendimiento aritmético básico con control del tiempo de reacción (TR).…”