Cognitive predictors of children's development in mathematics achievement: A latent growth modeling approach.

Research has identified various domain-general and domain-specific cognitive abilities as predictors of children's individual differences in mathematics achievement. However, research into the predictors of children's individual growth rates, namely between-person differences in within-person change in mathematics achievement is scarce. We assessed 334 children's domain-general and mathematics-specific early cognitive abilities and their general mathematics achievement longitudinally across four time-points within the first and second grades of primary school.

The developmental onset of symbolic approximation: beyond nonsymbolic representations, the language of numbers matters.

Symbolic (i.e., with Arabic numerals) approximate arithmetic with large numerosities is an important predictor of mathematics.

Longitudinal development of number line estimation and mathematics performance in primary school children.

Children's ability to relate number to a continuous quantity abstraction visualized as a number line is widely accepted to be predictive of mathematics achievement. However, a debate has emerged with respect to how children's placements are distributed on this number line across development. In the current study, different models were applied to children's longitudinal number placement data to get more insight into the development of number line representations in kindergarten and early primary school years.

Working memory and number line representations in single-digit addition: Approximate versus exact, nonsymbolic versus symbolic.

How do kindergarteners solve different single-digit addition problem formats? We administered problems that differed solely on the basis of two dimensions: response type (approximate or exact), and stimulus type (nonsymbolic, i.e., dots, or symbolic, i.

Working memory in nonsymbolic approximate arithmetic processing: a dual-task study with preschoolers.

Preschool children have been proven to possess nonsymbolic approximate arithmetic skills before learning how to manipulate symbolic math and thus before any formal math instruction. It has been assumed that nonsymbolic approximate math tasks necessitate the allocation of Working Memory (WM) resources. WM has been consistently shown to be an important predictor of children's math development and achievement.

How do children deal with inconsistencies in text? An eye fixation and self-paced reading study in good and poor reading comprehenders.

In two experiments, we investigated comprehension monitoring in 10-12 years old children differing in reading comprehension skill. The children's self-paced reading times (Experiment 1) and eye fixations and regressions (Experiment 2) were measured as they read narrative texts in which an action of the protagonist was consistent or inconsistent with a description of the protagonist's character given earlier. The character description and action were adjacent (local condition) or separated by a long filler paragraph (global condition).

Cognitive correlates of mathematical achievement in children with cerebral palsy and typically developing children.

Background: Remarkably few studies have investigated the nature and origin of learning difficulties in children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Aims: To investigate math achievement in terms of word-problem solving ability in children with CP and controls. Because of the potential importance of reading for word-problem solving, we investigated reading as well.

Quality of arithmetic education for children with cerebral palsy.

The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the quality of arithmetic education for children with cerebral palsy. The use of individual educational plans, amount of arithmetic instruction time, arithmetic instructional grouping, and type of arithmetic teaching method were explored in three groups: children with cerebral palsy (CP) in special (CP-special; n = 41) and mainstream schools (CP-mainstream; n = 16) and a control group in mainstream schools (n = 16). The majority of individual educational plans did not include well-formulated arithmetic goals and many were not based on optimal assessment.

Arithmetic difficulties in children with cerebral palsy are related to executive function and working memory.

Background: Although it is believed that children with cerebral palsy are at high risk for learning difficulties and arithmetic difficulties in particular, few studies have investigated this issue.

Methods: Arithmetic ability was longitudinally assessed in children with cerebral palsy in special (n = 41) and mainstream education (n = 16) and controls in mainstream education (n = 16). Second grade executive function and working memory scores were used to predict third grade arithmetic accuracy and response time.

The relationship between medical impairments and arithmetic development in children with cerebral palsy.

Arithmetic ability was tested in children with cerebral palsy without severe intellectual impairment (verbal IQ >or= 70) attending special (n = 41) or mainstream education (n = 16) as well as control children in mainstream education (n = 16) throughout first and second grade. Children with cerebral palsy in special education did not appear to have fully automatized arithmetic facts by the end of second grade. Their lower accuracy and consistently slower (verbal) response times raise important concerns for their future arithmetic development.

Prevalence of combined reading and arithmetic disabilities.

This study assesses the prevalence of combined reading and arithmetic disabilities in 799 Dutch schoolchildren using st dardized school achievement tests. Scores of arithmetic, word recognition, reading comprehension, and spelling of child in fourth and fifth grade were used. The main interest involved the co-occurrence of word recognition and arithmetic d abilities because of their possible relationship.

The effect of cerebral palsy on arithmetic accuracy is mediated by working memory, intelligence, early numeracy, and instruction time.

The development of addition and subtraction accuracy was assessed in first graders with cerebral palsy (CP) in both mainstream (16) and special education (41) and a control group of first graders in mainstream education (16). The control group out-performed the CP groups in addition and subtraction accuracy and this difference could not be fully explained by differences in intelligence. Both CP groups showed evidence of working memory deficits.