Untangling the Contribution of the Subcomponents of Working Memory to Mathematical Proficiency as Measured by the National Tests: A Study among Swedish Third Graders.

Carola Wiklund-Hörnqvist,Hanna Eklöf,Mikaela Nyroos,Bert Jonsson,Johan Korhonen

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01062

Carola Wiklund-Hörnqvist, Hanna Eklöf + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01062

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Abstract

The aim with the present study was to examine the relationship between the subcomponents in working memory (WM) and mathematical performance, as measured by the National tests in a sample of 597 Swedish third-grade pupils. In line with compelling evidence of other studies, individual differences in WM capacity significantly predicted mathematical performance. Dividing the sample into four groups, based on their mathematical performance, revealed that mathematical ability can be conceptualized in terms of different WM profiles. Pupils categorized as High-math performers particularly differed from the other three groups in having a significant higher phonological ability. In contrast, pupils categorized as Low-math performers were particularly characterized by having a significant lower visuo-spatial ability. Findings suggest that it is important for educators to recognize and acknowledge individual differences in WM to support mathematical achievement at an individual level.

Highlights

One topic in education that has been receiving rapidly growing attention is the learning of mathematics
A normal distribution analysis showed that the skewness (−1.895) and kurtosis (5.956) for the overall mathematical score was within acceptable normal distribution (Finney and Di Stefano, 2006) but with a tendency for the majority of the pupils to perform well
The first aim with the study was to investigate the relationship between the subcomponents in Working memory (WM) and performance in different mathematics domains, in a sample of third grade pupils (N = 596) in mainstream schools

Summary

Introduction

One topic in education that has been receiving rapidly growing attention is the learning of mathematics. In international comparisons such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS, 2007, 2011), Sweden, as well as many other countries, has showed a negative trend for educational achievement in mathematics during the last decade and the Swedish government has allocated a lot of financial resources to find interventions to prevent this trend to continue. It is widely accepted that there are individual differences in children’s cognitive ability to learn and acquire knowledge for scholastic achievement (see e.g., Engle et al, 1999; Hitch et al, 2001). Mathematics builds on several cognitive abilities and we know from a wealth of literature that individual differences

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