Individual differences in kindergarten math achievement: The integrative roles of approximation skills and working memory

By Iro Xenidou-Dervou, B. De Smedt, Menno van der Schoot, Ernest C. D. M. van Lieshout. 2013

78 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Kindergarteners can conduct basic computations with large nonsymbolic (e.g. dots, objects) and symbolic (i.e. Arabic numbers) numerosities in an approximate manner. These abilities are related to individual differences in mathematics achievement. At the same time, these individual differences are also determined by Working Memory (WM). The interrelationship between approximation, WM and math achievement has been largely unexplored. Also, the differential role of nonsymbolic and symbolic approximation in explaining math competencies is yet unclear. We examined an integrative theoretical model on the association between approximation (addition and comparison) and WM in 444 kindergarteners. As expected, approximation entailed two distinct abilities (nonsymbolic and symbolic). Both abilities correlated with mathematics achievement (i.e. counting and exact arithmetic), even when WM was taken into account. The association between nonsymbolic approximation and math achievement was completely mediated by symbolic approximation skills. These findings add to our understanding of the cognitive architecture underlying kindergarten math achievement. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.

Subfields: Developmental and Educational Psychology, Education, Statistics and Probability

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/63e1262cd1910f507c65331e50202b24e28d4ba7

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In Developmental and Educational Psychology

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Citations in the corpus

Nonsymbolic and symbolic magnitude comparison skills as longitudinal predictors of mathematical achievement (2017, methodology): “Also, the measures used in this study differed on several aspects from certain other kindergarten studies; for example, the (non)symbolic stimuli were presented simultaneoulsy, not sequentially (e.g. Gilmore et al., 2010; Xenidou-Dervou et al., 2013).”