Relations Between Executive Functioning, Numeracy, and Math Achievement in Early Childhood

• In Event: Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

Domain-general executive functioning (EF) skills predict domain-specific mathematics skills concurrently and longitudinally (Cragg & Gilmore, 2014). Children with poor EF skills show difficulty in mathematics throughout elementary school (Geary et al., 2012). Furthermore, children’s growth in EF skills during preschool is associated with their concurrent growth in mathematical skills (McClelland et al., 2007). Together, these studies suggest that EF skills influence mathematical development in early childhood, but offer little evidence on the mechanisms underlying this relation. One potential explanation is that EF skills affect children’s early numeracy skills, which in turn predict mathematics achievement (Jordan et al., 2009; Watts et al., 2014). In this study, we will compare the relative influences of EF skills on several early numeracy tasks (set counting, number comparison, number line estimation, numeral identification) to examine how EF may contribute to mathematics achievement.

Our study will address three research questions: 1) Do EF skills differentially relate to specific numeracy skills?; 2) Does the relation between EF and numeracy skills change as children improve over time?; and 3) Do early numeracy skills mediate the association between EF and mathematics achievement? We hypothesize that EF may be more strongly correlated with performance on the number line estimation task compared to other early numeracy tasks (H1); as children become better at counting and reading numerals the effects of EF on these numeracy tasks may decrease, however that number line estimation may have consistent EF demands (H2); and early numeracy skills may mediate the association between EF and math achievement (H3).

To test our hypotheses, we will conduct secondary analyses on an existing dataset (Study 1) and replicate our findings with a second dataset (Study 2). Study 1 includes 140 preschoolers assessed 3 - 4 months apart. Study 2 includes 104 kindergartners assessed six weeks apart. EF skills were assessed using measures of inhibitory control (Eriksen & Eriksen, 1974; Cameron Ponitz et al., 2008), attention shifting (Zelazo, 2006; Carlson & Zelazo, 2014), and working memory (Tulsky et al., 2013; Table 1). Numeracy skills included set counting (Wynn, 1992), number comparison, number line estimation (Ramani & Siegler, 2008), and numeral identification. Math achievement was assessed using two arithmetic tasks in Study 1 (Prather & Alibali, 2011) and the Test of Early Mathematics Ability - 3rd Edition in Study 2 (Ginsburg & Baroody, 2003).

In each study, we will address H1 using multivariate regressions predicting children’s numeracy performance on individual tasks with concurrent EF, controlling for age and gender. We will address H2 by comparing the associations between EF and numeracy tasks at the two time points. We will address H3 using mediation path analysis models to determine whether individual numeracy skills independently mediate the association between EF and math achievement.

The data collection for this study is complete, and after preregistering our study on the Open Science Framework we will conduct the analyses described above. The results of our study will provide insight into the mechanisms underlying the relation between EF and mathematics skills, and in turn offer implications for parents and educators seeking to support early cognitive development.

Authors

• Nicole R Scalise, Washington State University
  Presenting Author

• Jenny Yun-Chen Chan, TheEducation University of Hong Kong
  Non-Presenting Author