The contribution of general cognitive abilities and number abilities to different aspects of mathematics in children

Träff, Ulf

doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2013.04.007

Cited by 89 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 76 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…It has also been demonstrated that WM and intelligence are both important to various aspects of mathematics (Träff, 2013), but the portion of variance uniquely attributable to intelligence is only very small. Such evidence reinforces the importance of WM in mathematics and geometry.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship among geometry, working memory, and intelligence in children

Giofrè

Mammarella

Cornoldi

2014

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although geometry is one of the main areas of mathematical learning, the cognitive processes underlying geometry-related academic achievement have not been studied in detail. This study explored the relationship between working memory (WM), intelligence (g-factor) and geometry in 176 typically-developing children attending school in their 4 th and 5 th grades. Structural equation modeling showed that about 40% of the variance in academic achievement and in intuitive geometry (which is assumed to be independent of a person's cultural background) were explained by WM and the g-factor. After taking intelligence and WM into account, intuitive geometry was no longer significantly related to academic achievement in geometry. We also found intuitive geometry closely related to fluid intelligence (as measured by Raven) and reasoning ability, while academic achievement in geometry depended largely on WM. These results were confirmed by a series of regressions in which we estimated the contributions of WM, intelligence and intuitive geometry to the unique and shared variance explaining academic achievement in geometry. Theoretical and educational implications of the relationship between WM, intelligence and academic achievement in geometry are discussed.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship among geometry, working memory, and intelligence in children

Giofrè

Mammarella

Cornoldi

2014

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…2005; see also Cornoldi, Giofrè , Calgaro, & Stupiggia, 2013). It has been demonstrated, moreover, that WM -not intelligence -is the best predictor of literacy and numeracy (e.g., Alloway & Alloway, 2010), various mathematical skills (Träff, 2013), and academic achievement in geometry (Giofrè, Mammarella, & Cornoldi, 2014). Overall, this evidence converges in indicating that WM and intelligence may provide important, different information on children's cognitive functioning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

The relationship between working memory and intelligence in children: Is the scoring procedure important?

Giofrè

Mammarella

2014

Intelligence

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Different procedures have been proposed for scoring working memory (WM) tasks. The Absolute Credit Score (ACS) only considers performance in perfectly recalled trials, while the Partial Credit Score (PCS) considers imperfectly recalled ones too. Research indicates that different relationships between WM and general intelligence (the g-factor) may emerge using the ACS or the PCS. We reanalyzed the ACS and PCS obtained in a sample of 176 children in the 4 th and 5 th grades, and found that the PCS strengthened the relationship between WM and intelligence, and the relationships between visuospatial short-term memory (STM-VS), active WM and intelligence. When the number of items to be remembered (set size) was considered, however, the PCS only strengthened the relationship between STM-VS, active WM and intelligence in the case of larger set sizes. Practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

show abstract

“…Other studies have also demonstrated that domain-general cognitive abilities (e.g., working memory) and intelligence can explain a consistent amount of variance in mathematical performance (Deary, Strand, Smith, & Fernandes, 2007; Spinath, Spinath, Harlaar, & Plomin, 2006). Nevertheless, both domain-general and domain-specific cognitive processes may contribute to the acquisition of advanced mathematical skills (Fuchs et al, 2010; Passolunghi & Lanfranchi, 2012; Träff, 2013). Finally, language related abilities, such as phonological awareness and reading skills, have also been found to contribute to the development of mathematical competences (Koponen, Aunola, Ahonen, & Nurmi, 2007; Lee, Ng, Ng, & Lim, 2004).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Basic and advanced numerical performances relate to mathematical expertise but are fully mediated by visuospatial skills.

Sella

Sader

Lolliot

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recent studies have highlighted the potential role of basic numerical processing in the acquisition of numerical and mathematical competences. However, it is debated whether high-level numerical skills and mathematics depends specifically on basic numerical representations. In this study mathematicians and nonmathematicians performed a basic number line task, which required mapping positive and negative numbers on a physical horizontal line, and has been shown to correlate with more advanced numerical abilities and mathematical achievement. We found that mathematicians were more accurate compared with nonmathematicians when mapping positive, but not negative numbers, which are considered numerical primitives and cultural artifacts, respectively. Moreover, performance on positive number mapping could predict whether one is a mathematician or not, and was mediated by more advanced mathematical skills. This finding might suggest a link between basic and advanced mathematical skills. However, when we included visuospatial skills, as measured by block design subtest, the mediation analysis revealed that the relation between the performance in the number line task and the group membership was explained by non-numerical visuospatial skills. These results demonstrate that relation between basic, even specific, numerical skills and advanced mathematical achievement can be artifactual and explained by visuospatial processing.

show abstract

The contribution of general cognitive abilities and number abilities to different aspects of mathematics in children

Cited by 89 publications

References 76 publications

The relationship among geometry, working memory, and intelligence in children

The relationship among geometry, working memory, and intelligence in children

The relationship between working memory and intelligence in children: Is the scoring procedure important?

Basic and advanced numerical performances relate to mathematical expertise but are fully mediated by visuospatial skills.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About