Cognitive Predictors of Symbolic Number Skills in Preschoolers: Interaction Between Executive Functions and Intelligence

• In Event: 28.092 - Sheraton Roundtable Two - Osgoode Ballroom
  In Roundtable Session: 28.092-5 - Executive Functions, Metacognition, and Problem Design in Mathematics Learning

Abstract

Symbolic number knowledge is a key area of preschool mathematical development. The present study investigated cognitive antecedents of symbolic number skills in 173 Russian preschoolers, exploring distinct contributions of intelligence and executive functions, as well as their interaction. Cognitive assessments involved measures of nonverbal intelligence, working memory, and inhibitory control. Math tests targeted oral counting, number reading, and number comparison skills. Results showed that intelligence and EF uniquely predicted math performance, although the predictors’ relative strengths varied across math skills. Moreover, there was a significant interaction between intelligence and inhibitory control in predicting performance on number matching and number comparison tasks. In both tasks, the effect of inhibitory control was greater in children with a higher level of intellectual skills.

Authors

• Marina Vasilyeva, Boston College

• Meghan Coughlan, Boston College

• Lauren Crawford, Boston College

• Daria Bukhalenkova, Lomonosov Moscow State University

• Aleksander Veraksa, Lomonosov Moscow State University