Associations Between Patterning and Numerical Ability in Four- to Six-Year Olds

• In Event: Examining the Roles of Patterning Knowledge, Spatial Assembly, and Analogic Reasoning in Early Mathematics Development

Abstract

Early mathematical competencies such as numerical ability (e.g., counting, arithmetic) and patterning ability (e.g., extending regular configurations of elements in the environment) are important predictors for later academic achievement. This raises the question whether and how both abilities are related throughout development. Recent studies provide empirical support for the association between repeating patterning and numerical ability (e.g., Zippert et al., 2019), but questions remain. First, little is known about the direction of this association. On the one hand, understanding the regularities and structures in patterns might support children’s numerical development, as similar structures can be found in numbers (e.g., the base-ten system of the number words). On the other hand, children’s numerical ability such as counting and number recognition might support the development of their patterning ability. Second, the question remains whether the association with numerical ability is different for distinct pattern types. The present study addressed these two questions by analyzing the direction of the associations between repeating patterning (e.g., Δ□□Δ□□Δ□□), growing patterning (e.g., Δ□Δ□□Δ□□□), and numerical ability by means of a cross-lagged panel model.

Participants were 410 children from a range of socio-economic backgrounds who were annually assessed on their repeating patterning, growing patterning, and numerical ability, at age 4, 5, and 6. The two patterning measures consisted of three activities (i.e., extending, translating, identifying the unit) that were each presented with six repeating or six growing pattern items. The numerical ability measure covered performance on a wide range of tasks including counting, comparison, ordering and number identification. We included spatial skills (i.e., visuospatial working memory and spatial visualization) as control variables.

Descriptive statistics can be found in Table 1. From age 4 to 5, bidirectional associations were identified between repeating patterning, growing patterning, and numerical ability, and these remained while taking into account spatial skills (see Figure 1). From age 5 to 6, both patterning abilities predicted later numerical ability, but the reverse was no longer true. The associations between performances on both pattern types became unidirectional from repeating towards growing patterns, and disappeared when taking into account spatial skills. The above results suggest that both repeating and growing pattern ability support the development of numerical ability throughout this critical developmental period. This could be explained by the many regularities that can be found in numbers. Understanding these regularities can scaffold children’s numerical development. The finding that both pattern types uniquely contributed to numerical ability suggests that understanding the specific structure of repeating patterns as well as the structure of growing patterns are each uniquely important for later numerical ability. Our findings moreover suggest that more basic numerical skills (e.g., object counting) support later patterning performance, whereas the more complex numerical skills (e.g., multi-digit number recognition) do not.

Our results regarding the direction of the association between patterning and numerical ability, as well as its uniqueness for different pattern types, provide some first insight into the mechanisms that underlie this association and should be taken into account in future studies that investigate these mechanisms.

Authors

• Nore Wijns, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven)
  Presenting Author

• Lieven Verschaffel, KU Leuven
  Non-Presenting Author

• Bert De Smedt, University of Leuven
  Non-Presenting Author

• Joke Torbeyns, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven)
  Non-Presenting Author