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Executive Function and Math: The Protective Role of Working Memory

Fri, March 22, 3:00 to 4:30pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 3, Room 342

Integrative Statement

Children’s math skills at school-entry are the strongest predictor of later math performance (Duncan et al., 2007; Watts et al., 2014). However, children’s executive function (EF), a construct that encompasses children’s cognitive self-regulatory skills including cognitive flexibility and working memory, is also strongly predictive (Best & Miller, 2010; Blair & Razza, 2007; Fitzpatrick et al., 2014; Ursache et al., 2012). Furthermore, limited research examining the interplay between early math and EF skills suggests that strong EF may act as a protective factor for children who enter preschool with less advanced math skills (Blair et al., 2016; Ribner et al., 2017). In this study, we examine, in a nationally representative sample of kindergartners, the relative association of children’s EF and math skills at school entry with their math outcomes at the end of kindergarten, and whether specific EF skills serve as a protective factor for children who start kindergarten with lower math skills. We hypothesized that all entry skills would be associated with math outcomes, but entry math skills would be the strongest predictor. Additionally, we hypothesized that both cognitive flexibility and working memory would serve as protective factors for children with low math skills.

Data for this study included 13,774 children from the nationally representative, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-2011 (ECLS-K:2011). Data for the present study come from the first and second wave of data collection (fall and spring of kindergarten). Children’s skills were directly assessed using a proprietary assessment based on the NAEP for math, Dimensional Change Card Sort (Zelazo, 2006) for cognitive flexibility, and the Number Reversed subtest of the Woodcock-Johnson III (Mather & Woodcock, 2001) for working memory. The associations between children’s skills at school entry and math outcomes were examined using regression analyses, which included a series of covariates. All analyses were conducted in MPlus version 5.2. Missing data were accounted for using FIML.

Results (Table 1) indicated that children’s entry math skills were the strongest predictor of their math outcome (B = .71, b = .77, SE = .01, p < .001). Both cognitive flexibility and working memory were all associated with math gains. Notably, the association between working memory and math gains (B = .12, b = .05, SE = .00, p < .001) was about twice as large as the association between cognitive flexibility (B = .06, b = .21, SE = .02, p < .001) and gains. Children’s school entry math skills did not moderate the association between their cognitive flexibility and math gains over the kindergarten year (B = -.01, b = -.11, SE = .08, p = .200). However, their working memory at school entry did moderate the association between their math skills at school entry and math gains (B = -.07, b = -.92, SE = .08, p < .001) such that working memory was more strongly associated with math gains for children who had lower math skills at the start of kindergarten (see Figure 1). Implications for supporting children’s early math learning will be discussed.

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