Poster #28 - Flexible Attention to Numerical and Spatial Magnitudes in Pre-K through First Graders

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Cognitive Process

Integrative Statement

Children’s math experiences often involve experiences where spatial and numerical magnitudes are correlated (i.e., a greater number of apples is also a greater volume of apples). However, it is less common for children to count objects where numerical and spatial magnitudes are incongruent (e.g., Figure 1). Our study builds from the argument that children possess a general magnitude system, including both numerical and magnitude processing abilities, and that over time children begin to distinguish spatial magnitudes (continuous quantities including size) from numerical magnitudes (discrete, countable objects) (Newcombe et al., 2015). Preschoolers – especially those from low-income homes - often have difficulty focusing on numerical magnitudes when they are in conflict with spatial magnitude cues, an ability connected to math achievement (Fuhs & McNeil, 2013). Here, we examined students’ ability to attend to spatial and numerical magnitude (flexible attention to magnitude, or FAM), and how this ability relates to math achievement and executive functioning.
We created a task to measure FAM ability. Children in pre-k through 1st grades (from Dayton, OH and Philadelphia, PA; total n=100) attended to incongruent magnitudes and quantities. Children were shown trials where sets of stars varied in size and number; size and number were always incongruent (Figure 1). They performed a block of size trials (i.e., “choose the set with the biggest stars”) and a block of number trials (“choose the set with more stars”). These blocks were counterbalanced and followed by a block of mixed trials (where the background color behind the stars dictated whether it is a size or number trial). Philadelphia children also completed a measure of math achievement (WJ-IV Applied Problems subtest; Schrank, Mather, & McGrew, 2014) and Dayton participants completed a measure of executive functioning (MEFS; Carlson & Zelazo, 2014) and a quantitative subscale from the Bracken Basic Concepts Receptive scale (Bracken, 2006).
Table 1 includes the mean percent of items correct for each of the three levels of the task across both samples. We found significant effects of grade such that preschoolers scored significantly lower than kindergarteners and first graders on post-switch trials (i.e., the trial after the child switched from size to number, or vice versa) (t(98) = 3.16, p = .002), and mixed trials (t(98)=2.43, p=.017), but did not significantly differ from them on pre-switch trials, (t(98) = 1.51, p = .133). FAM task performance correlated with preschoolers’ executive function skills (medium-to-large effect size, r = .47) and quantitative skills (small-to-medium effect size, r = .24), but there was no significant correlation to math achievement among kindergarten-to-1st-graders, though the coefficient corresponded to a small-to-medium effect size (r = .17). FAM was also significantly related to socioeconomic status at all ages. This research suggests a relationship between FAM and executive function and identifies our task as a promising assessment of FAM ability. This sets the stage for future research to determine whether FAM ability relates to subsequent improvements in math achievement, and whether FAM ability can be improved if children receive targeted experiences with incongruency between numerical and spatial magnitudes.

Authors

• Victoria Bartek, Temple University
  Presenting Author

• Mary Fuhs, University of Dayton
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elizabeth Gunderson, Temple University
  Non-Presenting Author