Do Preschool Executive Functions Relate to Strategy Use and Problem-Solving Performance Into Elementary School?

• In Event: Unraveling how Executive Functions Support Mathematical Skills in Elementary School: Consideration of Measurement and Mechanisms

Abstract

Young children use many different strategies to solve arithmetic problems (Farrington-Flint et al., 2009). Over time, children learn to make adaptive strategy choices (Siegler, 1991). Thus, for children to successfully solve arithmetic problems, they must effectively switch between various strategies to problem solve. Executive functions (EFs), higher-order cognitive skills that aid children in attention and behavioral regulation, are vital for math achievement (McKinnon & Blair, 2018). It is important to consider how EFs support strategy selection, as they help children inhibit unnecessary strategies (Bull & Scerif, 2001), switch between strategies (Archambeau & Gevers, 2018), and maintain relevant information for problem-solving (Purpura & Ganley, 2014). Furthermore, EFs may support children’s abilities to narrow in on fewer strategies over time, which may quicken information processing and free working memory resources to focus on other aspects of problem solving. The current study examines how early EFs longitudinally relate to children’s strategy use in elementary school and subsequently, their overall performance on arithmetic problems.

The sample comprises 285 children followed longitudinally from preschool to third grade. In preschool, children completed nine EF tasks. Children completed the same set of 40 computer-administered addition and subtraction problems across first, second, and third grade. Children’s responses and strategy use were video recorded and coded at a later time. Children’s number of strategies used ranged from 0 to 7 (retrieval, verbal, spatial, counting, decomposition, physical, and other). Children’s accuracy was assessed by calculating the percentage of problems answered correctly across all 40 trials. Child gender (48% male) and race (72% White) as well as family income (M = $46, 589, SD = $33,303) were included as covariates.

Descriptive statistics are presented in Table 1. Performance increased across grades with 73% accuracy in first grade, 88% accuracy in second grade, and 93% accuracy in third grade, on average. Overall, children’s strategy use decreased over first, second, and third grade. As expected, children used fewer counting, verbal and physical strategies, and more retrieval and decomposition as they progressed across school. Results illustrated in Figure 1 indicate that preschool EFs directly relate children’s accuracy in both first and second grade (β = 0.349, p < .001; β = 0.186, p = .005, respectively). Interestingly, EFs directly relate to children’s total number of strategies used only in third grade, such that, high preschool EF performance was associated with the use of fewer strategies in third grade (β = -0.284, p < .001).

While a large majority of the literature has focused on early EFs to overall math achievement, this study importantly identifies the mechanisms through which EFs may support children’s problem-solving abilities. Results suggest that strong EFs may be especially vital for children’s strategy use as they progress in elementary school. These findings have novel implications for children’s math learning, given that third grade marks a transition of moving into higher level math, such as learning multiplication and division. As such, future work includes exploring how early EFs may relate to more extensive math skills, such as multistep problems and fractions.

Authors

• Kimia Akhavein, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
  Presenting Author

• Jenna Elizabeth Finch, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Carrie Clark, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

• Jennifer Mize Nelson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

• Kimberly Andrews Espy, University of Texas at San Antonio