Cognitive abilities and computational thinking at age 5: Evidence for associations to sequencing and symbolic number comparison

Abstract

Computational thinking (CT) is currently used as an umbrella term in education to describe the processes associated with learning and applying computer science concepts and strategies for problem-solving. Despite a growing body of literature on the subject within education and the development of a grand variety of tools designed to enhance computational thinking abilities, the relations between CT and other cognitive abilities have not been reported in young children. Understanding CT from a cognitive development perspective could be useful for creating targeted interventions tailored for young children. In the present study, we compare a previously reported computational thinking assessment with a battery of nine cognitive tests, which include fluid intelligence, working memory, planning, sequencing, mental rotation, vocabulary, and early math precursors such as numerical transcoding and symbolic magnitude comparison. Mixed-effects linear regressions were implemented with CT as a dependent variable to explore the associations between our variables. A subsample of children who participated in an educational robotics intervention were assessed in their robot programming performance, and its outcomes were compared with their CT assessments. Results suggest temporal sequencing ability and symbolic magnitude comparison are significant predictors of CT in kindergarten. Positive significant associations between robot programming and CT performance are reported.