Abstract
The goal of the present study was to investigate whether children’s cognitive strengths can compensate the accompanied weaknesses related to their specific learning difficulties. A Bayesian multigroup mediation SEM analysis in 281 fourth-grade children identified a cognitive compensatory mechanism in children with mathematical learning difficulties (n = 36): Children with weak number sense, but strong rapid naming performed slightly better on mathematics compared to peers with weak rapid naming. In contrast, a compensatory mechanism was not identified for children with a comorbid mathematical and reading difficulty (n = 16). One explanation for the latter finding could relate to the lack of ability to compensate, because of the difficulties these children experience in both academic domains. These findings lead to a new direction in research on learning difficulties in mathematics and/or reading by suggesting that children with a learning disability each have a unique profile of interrelated cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Children might compensate with these strengths for their weaknesses, which could lead to (small) learning gains in the affected domain.
Highlights
Primary school children’s academic performance is characterized by great individual variation, and even within the group of children with a specific learning difficulty there is much heterogeneity (Moll et al, 2018)
Interesting to note is that mathematics performance in the mathematical learning difficulty (MLD)- and mathematical and reading learning difficulties (MRLD)-group was significantly lower than the reading learning difficulty (RLD)-group, which in turn was weaker compared to Typical developing (TD)-group
We investigated if our interpretation of the Bayesian SEM analyses holds: Does rapid naming take on the role of a cognitive compensation in a regular primary school population? Performance on mathematics and reading was examined on a continuous dimensional scale for children with strong performance on this cognitive skill compared to children with weak performance on that same skill
Summary
Primary school children’s academic performance is characterized by great individual variation, and even within the group of children with a specific learning difficulty there is much heterogeneity (Moll et al, 2018). Children who experience learning difficulties, for example in mathematics or reading, each may have their own unique profile of cognitive weaknesses and strengths. Previous research has to some extent recognized cognitive strengths in relation to learning difficulties (e.g., Toffalini et al, 2017), the main body of empirical research on learning difficulties solely investigated the weaknesses associated with them (for meta-analyses see Schwenk et al, 2017; Araújo and Faísca, 2019). Children may use cognitive strengths to compensate for their cognitive weaknesses, to prevent the development of more severe learning difficulties. The present study aimed to investigate children’s cognitive strengths as potential compensatory mechanisms for cognitive weaknesses related to their performance on mathematics and reading. Mathematics is defined as problem solving in the domains of proportions and geometry, including—but not limited to—calculations with fractions and measurements
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