Poster #33 - How do the Home Environment, Number Talk and Executive Functions Support Early Mathematical Skills?

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Cognitive Processes

Integrative Statement

Even before children start school, sizeable differences exist in children’s mathematics ability (Starkey & Klein, 2008). Understanding how we can support early attainment in mathematics is crucial as mathematical skills predict academic attainment through school (Duncan et al., 2007) and health and wealth in adulthood (e.g., Ritchie & Bates, 2013). Mathematical skills are often poorer in children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds compared to their more advantaged peers (Rathbun & West, 2004). The amount of number talk (Levine et al., 2011) and learning activities in the home (Ramani et al., 2015) are thought to contribute to SES differences in mathematics attainment. Furthermore, mathematical skills have been found to be underpinned by executive functions in older children, namely working memory (the ability to maintain and process information) and inhibitory control (the ability to suppress automatic but irrelevant responses) (Cragg & Gilmore, 2014). As executive functions develop rapidly during the preschool years, it is possible that these skills play an important role in the development of early mathematical skills. The aim of the present study was to examine how number talk, home activities and executive functions affect mathematical skills in a diverse sample of preschoolers.

Three-year-olds (N=32) from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds were recruited to the study. Children completed measures of mathematics, inhibitory control, working memory, vocabulary and processing speed. Parents completed a questionnaire asking about the frequency they engaged in home learning activities with their children (both maths and literacy) and their views on the importance of engaging in these activities. SES was measured using a neighborhood deprivation index. Number talk was later coded from a video recorded play session that was transcribed for instances of parent and child number talk.

Preliminary results indicate that preschoolers from lower SES backgrounds had significantly poorer mathematical skills than children from higher SES backgrounds (r=.36). Notably, SES was not related to the frequency of maths activities in the home (r=.02), nor was it related to parent number talk (r=.13). However, parents from higher SES backgrounds tended to see mathematics as a more important home activity than parents from lower SES backgrounds (r=.32). Interestingly, parents from all SES backgrounds reported engaging in significantly more literacy activities than maths activities at home (d=1.51). Parent number talk did not correlate with children’s mathematical skills (r=.26) but children’s number talk did (r=.40), particularly number talk that involved cardinality (r=.43). Furthermore, children with better inhibitory control had significantly better mathematical skills (r=.59); however, there was no relation between mathematical skills and working memory (r=.20). Inhibitory control predicted 35% of the variation in mathematical skills, and this relation remained when controlling for SES, vocabulary and processing speed. The results demonstrate SES attainment gaps in mathematical skills as young as age three. Parent beliefs about the importance of mathematics in the home may contribute to SES differences in mathematical skills. Finally, inhibitory control may be an important factor that underpins the development of early mathematical skills perhaps due to its role in helping children to avoid attending to irrelevant information.

Authors

• Ella James-Brabham, University of Sheffield
  Presenting Author

• Emma Blakey, The University of Sheffield
  Non-Presenting Author

• Paul Wakeling, University of York
  Non-Presenting Author