Associations between Novel Patterning Assessments and Mathematics Knowledge Across Childhood

• In Event: Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Topic - Cognitive Processes

Abstract

Empirical evidence highlights that patterning skills are central to cognitive development, and mathematics skills, in particular (see Burgoyne et al., 2017). However, less is known about which type of patterning skills relate to children’s mathematics knowledge across a wide age range. Much research has only focused on children’s skills with repeating patterns (Rittle-Johnson et al., 2015) or only with children ages 4 to 5 (Wijns et al., 2019). Research is needed to assess patterning skills across development using a variety of tasks. In the current study, 4- to 9-year-old children completed two novel patterning assessments—one assessing children’s skills with repeating patterns (i.e., patterns with a unit that repeats such as ABABAB) and one assessing children’s skills with growing patterns (i.e., patterns that increase or decrease according to a rule such as ABABBABBB)—along with a mathematics assessment. We expected to find positive relations between these measures of patterning knowledge and children’s mathematics knowledge across development.

We worked with 96 children ages 4 to 6 (Mage = 5.50 years; SD = 0.78 years; 54% female; 85% white) and 62 children ages 7 to 9 (Mage = 8.24 years; SD = 0.96 years; 57% female; 87% white). They met individually with an experimenter and completed a variety of cognitive measures, including: (1) a 12-item multiple-choice assessment measuring repeating pattern knowledge (see Figure 1), (2) an 8-item multiple-choice assessment measuring growing pattern knowledge (see Figure 1), and (3) a 10-item measure assessing arithmetic fluency (e.g., 9 + 8, 5 + 5). We examined the relation between patterning skills and arithmetic fluency after controlling for age, relational reasoning, and children’s spontaneous focus on number, given that previous research has shown that these factors relate to both patterning skills and mathematics skills (e.g., Fuhs et al., 2018; Miller et al., 2016).

Scores on the repeating and growing pattern assessments were moderate, increased with age, and positively correlated with arithmetic fluency. For children ages 4 to 6, a linear regression model revealed that both repeating pattern scores and growing pattern scores accounted for significant variance in children’s arithmetic fluency, even after controlling for age, relational reasoning, and spontaneous focus on number (see Table 1). For children ages 7 to 9, repeating pattern scores – but not growing pattern scores – accounted for unique variance in children’s arithmetic fluency in a similar regression model (see Table 1).

The current findings provide unique insights into children’s patterning skills. First, they suggest there are strong relations between general cognitive skills, patterning skills, and mathematics skills across childhood – from ages 4 to 9. Second, they suggest that patterning skills predict mathematics skills even after accounting for children’s ability to attend to basic structure in their environment (as assessed by their relational reasoning and attention to number). Third, children’s skills with repeating patterns may be more relevant to their mathematics knowledge than their skills with growing patterns. Future research is needed to continue investigating which types of patterning knowledge might support mathematics skills and other academic outcomes.

Authors

• Giulia Alexandra Borriello, Indiana University - Bloomington
  Presenting Author

• Emily Fyfe, Indiana University - Bloomington
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nicholas Allan Vest, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Non-Presenting Author