Abstract
Past research suggests that individual differences in the acuity of the approximate number system (ANS) are associated with children’s math abilities. However, some recent work has argued that these associations can be explained through shared reliance on inhibitory control. Here, we test this claim in two separate experiments. In Experiment 1, forty-two 5- and 6-year-old children completed a non-symbolic number comparison task to assess ANS acuity as well as standardized experimenter-administered assessments for inhibitory control and math ability. Children’s accuracy in the number comparison task and scores on the math assessment were significantly correlated, even when controlling for performance on the inhibitory control task. To rule out that our findings were due to the nature of the inhibitory control task, in Experiment 2, we administered a different, computerized inhibitory control task, and similar tasks to assess ANS acuity and math ability as in Experiment 1 to children aged 3–6 years (N = 169). Similar to the result of Experiment 1, we found that associations between accuracy in the number comparison task and math ability persisted when controlling for performance on the inhibitory control task. Together these results suggest that ANS acuity is uniquely associated with early math abilities, independent of the effect of inhibitory control at least in children from middle- to high-SES families.
Highlights
Several large longitudinal studies suggest that children’s early math abilities are predictive of later academic success and socio-economic status in adulthood (Duncan et al, 2007; Ritchie and Bates, 2013)
The results of Experiment 1 demonstrate that, consistent with past research, approximate number system (ANS) acuity is significantly and positively associated with children’s math ability. These associations remained significant when holding inhibitory control constant suggesting that these math-specific cognitive abilities serve as a unique predictor of mathematics
These findings conflict with past research that argues that effects of ANS acuity on math can be fully explained by inhibitory control (Fuhs and McNeil, 2013; Gilmore et al, 2013)
Summary
Several large longitudinal studies suggest that children’s early math abilities are predictive of later academic success and socio-economic status in adulthood (Duncan et al, 2007; Ritchie and Bates, 2013). Math ANS and inhibitory control control, all of which are needed to successfully solve problems (e.g., Zelazo and Müller, 2002; Jurado and Rosselli, 2007; Garon et al, 2008; Liew, 2012) These executive functions are seen fairly early in life and develop rapidly during the preschool and kindergarten years (see Zelazo and Müller, 2002; Carlson, 2003). Past research has demonstrated that this set of domain-general cognitive skills promotes children’s early academic skills and that these associations appear to persist throughout the later elementary school years (McClelland et al, 2006; St Clair-Thompson and Gathercole, 2006). In a longitudinal study addressing children’s cognitive development across the transition to formal schooling, executive functions at age 4 years, measured as a unitary construct, significantly predicted later math ability when holding reading skills and general cognitive abilities constant (Clark et al, 2010). Executive functions may be important for children’s developing math skills, over and above larger relations to broader domains of cognitive abilities
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