Developmental Trajectories of Number Knowledge in Preschool Children: A Closer Look at Some of Their Antecedents and Predictors

• In Event: Interdisciplinary and Cross-Cultural Investigations Into Cognitive and Motivational Underpinnings of Mathematical Development

Abstract

Early math abilities, such as number knowledge (NK), are presumed to play a key role in school achievement trajectories. However, we still know very little about the early development of these abilities and their antecedents. In our recent work, we were able to identify four different groups of preschool children who, between the ages of 4 to 7, differed on their developmental trajectories of NK (Number Knowledge Test, Okamoto & Case, 1996). Membership in these groups predicted later math and overall school achievement scores across childhood. These groups can be identified as: 1 - low & increasing NK; 2 - moderate & increasing NK; 3- moderate & fast increasing; 4 - high & increasing NK. Children in trajectory 3 were initially close to trajectories 1 and 2, but very quickly increased their performance to the point where their NK scores resembled those of children in trajectory #4. In the current study, we examine the correlates and predictors of trajectory 3. Specifically, the presentation will document whether children in trajectory #3 showed earlier signs of developmental delays compared with children in trajectory #4, and whether features of their environment (e.g., parenting, family, daycare) account for their early difference as well as their catching-up with children in trajectory #4. This would have important implications for prevention. Data were collected in the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD), a representative birth cohort of more than 1500 children born in Quebec, Canada. Achievements of developmental milestones in the motor, social and cognitive domains were assessed at 5, 17 and 29 months of age using questions drawn from the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales (Sparrow et al., 1984) and from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (USA), as well as from children’s performance in different cognitive and attention tasks. Environmental factors between 5 and 41 months, including family income, maternal education, maternal depression, social support and alcohol/drug consumption, parental practices, quality of the home environment, quality of family functioning, childcare participation will be examined as putative predictors of developmental trajectories of NK. We expect that environmental factors will account for the difference in NK performance between children in trajectories #3 and #4, as well as for catch-up effect seen at later ages between these two groups. Chi-square, as well as multiple, logistic and multinomial regression analyses, will be used to examine our different research questions/hypotheses. Implications of the results for a more complete understanding of the environmental factors associated with individual differences in early math abilities will be discussed.

Authors

• Jean-Pascal Lemelin, Université de Sherbrooke

• Michel Boivin, Université Laval

• Nadine Forget-Dubois, Université Laval

• Ginette Dionne, Université Laval

• Hélène Desrosiers, Institute of Statistics Quebec

• Jean Séguin, University of Montréal

• Richard Ernest Tremblay, University of Montréal