Training of basic arithmetic competencies with 5- to 8-years-old children

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Training of basic arithmetic competencies with 5- to 8-years-old children Katleen Sahr1*, Dominique Arndt1, Maria Opfermann1, Annemarie Fritz1 and Detlev Leutner1 1 Duisburg-Essen University, Instructional Psychology Department, Germany Early support of basic arithmetic competencies is important for the general development and academic career of children. For this purpose, we conducted a longitudinal study in which we screened N = 1363 children with an average age of 89 months (SD = 14.7) for their basic arithmetic skills according to a five-stage developmental model recently proposed by Fritz, Ricken and Balzer [1]. In addition, cognitive abilities were assessed by means of Coloured Progressive Matrices [2]. 254 low achieving children were assigned to one of four training groups: (1) math training, (2) working memory training, (3) social skills training, and (4) control without any training. Each training consisted of up to 20 one-hour training sessions administered within eight weeks. The math training was based on the stage model by Fritz and colleagues and was conducted adaptively in individual settings: Each child proceeded to training problems of the next stage if and only if it had mastered the previous stage. The working memory training was conducted in group sessions, whereby each child worked individually on a computer. The social skills training was also conducted in group sessions and included games and communication tasks. After the training, arithmetic skills and cognitive abilities as well as working memory and language were assessed. ANOVA results revealed that the math training had a positive effect with near and far transfer. Thus, our study showed that even a relatively short but distinctive and adaptive training of basic arithmetic competencies can lead to substantial gains in arithmetic skills. The training will be used to prepare children for an fMRI study on neural correlates of math development.