Working memory deficits in Math learning difficulties: a meta-analysis

David, Carmen

doi:10.1179/2047387711y.0000000007

Cited by 47 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Experiment 1 investigated differences between the working memory storage capacity for number, word and visuo-spatial stimuli of adult mathematics and humanities students. Individuals with good visuo-spatial working memory have been shown to have higher levels of mathematics achievement (David, 2012;Leikin et al, 2013;Li & Geary, 2013;Szűcs et al, 2014). Previous research with adults (Fürst & Hitch, 2000;Imbo & Vandierendonck, 2007;Logie et al, 1994) and children (Adams & Hitch, 1997;Gathercole et al, 2004;Jarvis & Gathercole, 2003;Passolunghi, Vercelloni, & Schadee, 2007;Purpura & Ganley, 2014) has also suggested verbal working memory capacity is linked to mathematics achievement.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In contrast, other studies find a stronger relationship between visuo-spatial working memory capacity and mathematics (e.g. David, 2012;Leikin et al, 2013) and suggest that the role of visuospatial working memory may increase with age between 6 and 15 years (Li & Geary, 2013, 2017. Szűcs, Devine, Soltesz, Nobes, and Gabriel (2014) examined a wide range of cognitive abilities linked to mathematics in 100 seven to ten year old children and found that whilst visuo-spatial working memory predicted arithmetic performance, verbal working memory did not.…”

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confidence: 92%

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Mathematics students demonstrate superior visuo-spatial working memory to humanities students under conditions of low central executive processing load

2019

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Previous research has demonstrated that working memory performance is linked to mathematics achievement. Most previous studies have involved children and arithmetic rather than more advanced forms of mathematics. This study compared the performance of groups of adult mathematics and humanities students. Experiment 1 employed verbal and visuo-spatial working memory span tasks using a novel face-matching processing element. Results showed that mathematics students had greater working memory capacity in the visuo-spatial domain only. Experiment 2 replicated this and demonstrated that neither visuo-spatial short-term memory nor endogenous spatial attention explained the visuo-spatial working memory differences. Experiment 3 used working memory span tasks with more traditional verbal or visuo-spatial processing elements to explore the effect of processing type. In this study mathematics students showed superior visuo-spatial working memory capacity only when the processing involved had a comparatively low level of central executive involvement. Both visuo-spatial working memory capacity and general visuo-spatial skills predicted mathematics achievement.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

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confidence: 92%

Mathematics students demonstrate superior visuo-spatial working memory to humanities students under conditions of low central executive processing load

2019

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“…In support of the cognitive deficit as a cause for MLD, not only has it been shown that children with higher WM capacity outperform their peers with lower WM capacity in different mathematics tasks (e.g., Preßler et al, 2013), but also that children with varying degrees of MLD display weaker WM skills compared to their peers without MLD (e.g., Geary et al, 2004;Menon, 2016;Passolunghi & Siegel, 2004). In a meta-analysis comparing children with MLD to average-achieving age-matched children on measures of WM, large effects were found for central executive and visuospatial sketchpad (d = .95 and d = .59, respectively) and medium effects for phonological loop (d = 0.36), in favour of the averageachieving children (David, 2012).…”

Section: Snmp and Wm As Predictors Of Mathematical Learning Difficultiesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Patterns of Symbolic Numerical Magnitude Processing and Working Memory as Predictors of Early Mathematics Performance

Mononen¹,

Niemivirta²

2020

Preprint

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Although the roles of symbolic numerical magnitude processing (SNMP) and working memory (WM) as predictors of mathematics performance are well acknowledged, studies examining their joint effects are still scarce. In this study, we investigated whether we can identify different performance profiles of SNMP (i.e., comparison of 1- and 2-digit numbers) and WM (i.e., verbal, visuospatial, and central executive) among Norwegian first-graders (N = 256, Mage = 6 y. 9 m.), and how those profiles predict performance in counting and arithmetic, while controlling for several demographics and cognitive skills. Using latent class cluster analysis, four groups were identified: 1) weak SNMP (33.6%), 2) strong SNMP (25.8%), 3) weak SNMP and WM (double weakness) (23.4%), and 4) strong WM (17.2%). The group differences in counting and arithmetic were significant with explained variance ranging from 21% to 30%, and remained so even after taking into account the effects of age, gender, parents’ educational level, status of second language learner, nonverbal intelligence, rapid automatized naming, and word comprehension. Our findings suggest that children may display relative strengths in SNMP and WM skills, and that they both have a unique, even compensatory role in children's mathematics performance. Yet, their individual contribution might depend on the types of skill in question (e.g., arithmetic fluency vs. word problem solving). Particularly SNMP skills might serve as a marker for future difficulties in learning mathematics.

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“…Thus, on the assumption that a discrete subgroup of ELL children at risk for learning disabilities in reading or math emerges, it is important to know the cognitive processes associated with these risk groups. One of the most-oftenreferred-to cognitive processes underlying both reading and math disabilities is working memory (WM; Cowan, 2014;David, 2012;Peng et al, 2016Peng et al, , 2018Swanson & Beebe-Frankenberger, 2004), which has also been related to achievement difficulties in emerging bilinguals (e.g., Engle de Abreu, 2011; Engle de Abreu & Gathercole, 2012;Linck et al, 2013;Swanson et al, 2006Swanson et al, , 2015. Although the association between WM and reading or math has been established in the literature, the processes of WM that underlie predictions of reading or math performance are unclear (see Peng et al, 2016Peng et al, , 2018.…”

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confidence: 99%

Can Difficulties in Language Acquisition and Specific Learning Disabilities Be Separated Among English Learners?

Swanson

Kong

Petcu³

et al. 2020

Exceptional Children

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This study investigated the prevalence of latent classes at risk for reading or math disabilities in elementary-age children whose first language is Spanish. To this end, children ( N = 394) in Grades 1, 2, and 3 were administered a battery of vocabulary, reading, math, and cognitive measures in both Spanish and English. Three important findings occurred. First, five latent classes emerged (average achievers, poor achievers, reading disabled, English language learners, Spanish-dominant achievers) that varied in language and achievement scores. Second, probability estimates indicated that 10% of the total sample was at risk for learning disabilities (below cutoff score), and approximately 40% of the sample reflected a language acquisition group not at risk for academic difficulties. Finally, the best model for correctly predicting the odds of latent classes differing from average achievers included English measures of short-term memory, naming speed, and the executive component of working memory. The results support the notion that statistically distinct latent classes emerge under the umbrella of children identified as English learners and that children at risk for specific learning disabilities can be separated among a heterogeneous sample of children who are acquiring English as a second language.

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Working memory deficits in Math learning difficulties: a meta-analysis

Cited by 47 publications

References 31 publications

Mathematics students demonstrate superior visuo-spatial working memory to humanities students under conditions of low central executive processing load

Mathematics students demonstrate superior visuo-spatial working memory to humanities students under conditions of low central executive processing load

Patterns of Symbolic Numerical Magnitude Processing and Working Memory as Predictors of Early Mathematics Performance

Can Difficulties in Language Acquisition and Specific Learning Disabilities Be Separated Among English Learners?

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