Performance on curriculum-based mathematics assessments in developmental dyscalculia: the effect of content domain and question format.

Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) is characterised by persistent difficulties in learning mathematical skills, which usually becomes apparent in the early years of schooling. Traditionally, DD is known to affect children's arithmetic processing, whilst other domains of mathematics receive much less research attention. Nevertheless, contemporary diagnostic guidelines suggest that DD is linked to widespread and diverse difficulties, both within and outside of the domain of numbers.

Finger counting, finger number gesturing, and basic numerical skills: A cross-sectional study in 3- to 5-year-olds.

Recent evidence suggests that using finger-based strategies is beneficial for the acquisition of basic numerical skills. There are basically two finger-based strategies to be distinguished: (a) finger counting (i.e.

Different aspects of fraction understanding are associated selectively with performance on a fraction learning game.

Fraction understanding seems a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is an important predictor of later mathematical achievement. On the other hand, it is also one of the topics students struggle most in secondary math education.

Influences of cognitive control on number processing: New evidence from switching between two numerical tasks.

A growing body of research suggests that basic numerical abilities such as number magnitude and number parity processing are influenced by cognitive control. So far, however, evidence for number processing being influenced by cognitive control came primarily from observed adaptations to stimulus set characteristics (e.g.

Numeracy and COVID-19: examining interrelationships between numeracy, health numeracy and behaviour.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people across the globe have been exposed to large amounts of statistical data. Previous studies have shown that individuals' mathematical understanding of health-related information affects their attitudes and behaviours. Here, we investigate the relation between (i) basic numeracy, (ii) COVID-19 health numeracy, and (iii) COVID-19 health-related attitudes and behaviours.

The quandary of diagnosing mathematical difficulties in a generally low performing population.

Unlabelled: Brazilian students' mathematical achievement was repeatedly observed to fall below average levels of mathematical attainment in international studies such as PISA.

Objective: In this article, we argue that this general low level of mathematical attainment may interfere with the diagnosis of developmental dyscalculia when a psychometric criterion is used establishing an arbitrary cut-off (e.g.

Neurofunctional plasticity in fraction learning: An fMRI training study.

Background: Fractions are known to be difficult for children and adults. Behavioral studies suggest that magnitude processing of fractions can be improved via number line estimation (NLE) trainings, but little is known about the neural correlates of fraction learning.

Method: To examine the neuro-cognitive foundations of fraction learning, behavioral performance and neural correlates were measured before and after a five-day NLE training.

Inversion effects on mental arithmetic in English- and Polish-speaking adults.

In some languages the order of tens and units in number words is inverted compared with the symbolic digital notation (e.g., German 23 → "," literally: "").

Anticipation of difficult tasks: neural correlates of negative emotions and emotion regulation.

Background: Difficult cognitive tasks are often associated with negative feelings. This can be already the case for the mere anticipation of having to do a difficult task. For the case of difficult math tasks, it was recently suggested that such a negative emotional response may be exclusive to highly math-anxious individuals.

Processing symbolic and non-symbolic proportions: Domain-specific numerical and domain-general processes in intraparietal cortex.

Previous studies on the processing of fractions and proportions focused mainly on the processing of their overall magnitude information in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). However, the IPS is also associated with domain-general cognitive functions beyond processing overall magnitude, which may nevertheless be involved in operating on magnitude information of proportions. To pursue this issue, the present study aimed at investigating whether there is a shared neural correlate for proportion processing in the intraparietal cortex beyond overall magnitude processing and how part-whole relations are processed on the neural level.

More than simple facts: cross-linguistic differences in place-value processing in arithmetic fact retrieval.

Linguistic specificities such as the inversion property of number words (e.g., in German 43 is spoken dreiundvierzig, literally three and  forty) moderate Arabic number processing.

Direct evidence for linguistic influences in two-digit number processing.

Language-specific differences in number words influence number processing even in nonverbal numerical tasks. For instance, the unit-decade compatibility effect in two-digit number magnitude comparison (compatible number pairs [42_57: 4 < 5 and 2 < 7] are responded to faster than incompatible pairs [47_62: 4 < 6 but 7 > 2]) was shown to be influenced by the inversion of number words (e.g.

Neuro-cognitive mechanisms of global Gestalt perception in visual quantification.

Recent neuroimaging studies identified posterior regions in the temporal and parietal lobes as neuro-functional correlates of subitizing and global Gestalt perception. Beyond notable overlap on a neuronal level both mechanisms are remarkably similar on a behavioral level representing both a specific form of visual top-down processing where single elements are integrated into a superordinate entity. In the present study, we investigated whether subitizing draws on principles of global Gestalt perception enabling rapid top-down processes of visual quantification.

A Taxonomy Proposal for Types of Interactions of Language and Place-Value Processing in Multi-Digit Numbers.

Research on associations between language and number processing has seen growing interest in the last years - in particular with respect to place-value processing in multi-digit numbers. Recently, Dowker and Nuerk (2016) proposed a taxonomy of linguistic influences on number processing. However, this taxonomy does not address the generality or specificity of linguistic influences across different levels of number processing.

Magnitude processing of symbolic and non-symbolic proportions: an fMRI study.

Background: Recent research indicates that processing proportion magnitude is associated with activation in the intraparietal sulcus. Thus, brain areas associated with the processing of numbers (i.e.

Spatial Arrangement and Set Size Influence the Coding of Non-symbolic Quantities in the Intraparietal Sulcus.

Performance in visual quantification tasks shows two characteristic patterns as a function of set size. A precise subitizing process for small sets (up to four) was contrasted with an approximate estimation process for larger sets. The spatial arrangement of elements in a set also influences visual quantification performance, with frequently perceived arrangements (e.

Fact learning in complex arithmetic-the role of the angular gyrus revisited.

In recent theoretical considerations as well as in neuroimaging findings the left angular gyrus (AG) has been associated with the retrieval of arithmetic facts. This interpretation was corroborated by higher AG activity when processing trained as compared with untrained multiplication problems. However, so far neural correlates of processing trained versus untrained problems were only compared after training.

Processing multi-digit numbers: a translingual eye-tracking study.

The present study aimed at investigating the underlying cognitive processes and language specificities of three-digit number processing. More specifically, it was intended to clarify whether the single digits of three-digit numbers are processed in parallel and/or sequentially and whether processing strategies are influenced by the inversion of number words with respect to the Arabic digits [e.g.

On the limits of language influences on numerical cognition - no inversion effects in three-digit number magnitude processing in adults.

The inversion of number words influences numerical cognition even in seemingly non-verbal tasks, such as Arabic number comparison. However, it is an open question whether inversion of decades and units also influences number processing beyond the two-digit number range. The current study addresses this question by investigating compatibility effects in both German- (a language with inverted) and English-speaking (a language with non-inverted number words) university students (mean age 22 years) in a three-digit number comparison task.

An integration of competing accounts on children's number line estimation.

Children's estimation patterns in bounded number line estimation (NLE) reveal marked developmental changes. Three different theoretical accounts were proposed to explain these changes: a log-to-linear shift account, a proportion-judgment account and a two-linear account considering familiarity with numbers or the understanding of the place-value structure of the Arabic number system. However, only the first two accounts are considered prominently in the ongoing scientific debate.

Testing a model of componential processing of multi-symbol numbers-evidence from measurement units.

Research on numerical cognition has addressed the processing of nonsymbolic quantities and symbolic digits extensively. However, magnitude processing of measurement units is still a neglected topic in numerical cognition research. Hence, we investigated the processing of measurement units to evaluate whether typical effects of multi-digit number processing such as the compatibility effect, the string length congruity effect, and the distance effect are also present for measurement units.