Specific Preschool Executive Functions Predict Unique Aspects of Mathematics Development: A 3‐Year Longitudinal Study

Abstract

This study assessed the extent to which executive functions (EF), according to their factor structure in 5-year-olds (N = 244), influenced early quantity-number competencies, arithmetic fluency, and mathematics school achievement throughout first and second grades. A confirmatory factor analysis resulted in updating as a first, and inhibition and shifting as a combined second factor. In the structural equation model, updating significantly affected knowledge of the number word sequence, suggesting a facilitatory effect on basic encoding processes in numerical materials that can be learnt purely by rote. Shifting and inhibition significantly influenced quantity to number word linkages, indicating that these processes promote developing a profound understanding of numbers. These results show the supportive role of specific EF for specific aspects of a numerical foundation.

Neighbourhood chaos moderates the association of socioeconomic status and child executive functioning

“…We measured EF in 4.5-to 5.5-year-old children, given the significance of this period for school readiness (e.g., Morgan et al, 2018). Further, given that EF by these ages is multidimensional (Monette, Bigras, & Lafrenière, 2015;Simanowski & Krajewski, 2017), we assessed multiple aspects of EF including sustaining attention, inhibitory control, and working memory, which in this paper is defined as holding information in mind (Luck & Vogel, 1997;Riggs, McTaggart, Simpson, & Freeman, 2006;Simmering, 2012). Parental depression and parenting stress were assessed as measures of parental well-being.…”

Different Subcomponents of Executive Functioning Predict Different Growth Parameters in Mathematics: Evidence From a 4-Year Longitudinal Study With Chinese Children

“…In addition, although some previous studies have shown that earlier EF predicts future number competence (e.g., Kolkman et al, 2013 ; McClelland et al, 2014 ; Purpura et al, 2017 ), little is known about whether EF continues to predict mathematics skills after controlling for number competence such as number sense. Fuhs et al (2016) , for example, found that the effects of early EF on concurrent mathematics performance were fully mediated by number sense, and Simanowski and Krajewski (2017) also found that EF in kindergarten could not predict mathematic skills in Grades 1 and 2 (mean ages were 87 and 99 months, respectively) after controlling for early number competence. Therefore, as Viterbori et al (2015) have suggested, children’s number sense should be controlled before examining the contribution of EF subcomponents to mathematics skills.…”

“…Second, most previous studies examining the relationship between EF and mathematics are cross-sectional (e.g., Agostino et al, 2010 ; Rose et al, 2011 ; Cantin et al, 2016 ). The few longitudinal studies (e.g., Swanson, 2006 ; McClelland et al, 2014 ; Simanowski and Krajewski, 2017 ; Vandenbroucke et al, 2017 ) have covered only a limited developmental span (most often from Kindergarten to Grades 1 and 2) and have used the EF skills (assessed at an earlier point in time) to predict mathematics skills at a later point in time (often assessed once). To our knowledge, only a handful of longitudinal studies have examined how EF predicts different growth parameters (intercept and slope) in mathematics (see Bull et al, 2008 ; Geary, 2011 ; van der Ven et al, 2012 ; Van de Weijer-Bergsma et al, 2015 ; Lee and Bull, 2016 ), and of these studies only two had assessed all three EF subcomponents ( Bull et al, 2008 ; van der Ven et al, 2012 ).…”

Preschool Mathematics Performance and Executive Function: Rural-Urban Comparisons across Time

“…Working memory (WM). Improvement in working memory (also known as updating; Simanowski & Krajewski, 2019) between ages 3 and 5 years is documented for digit or word span tasks (e.g., Espy & Bull, 2005), spatial or object span tasks (e.g., Ewing-Cobbs et al, 2004), spatial and object memory (e.g., Ewing-Cobbs et al, 2004), and tasks that assess the ability to track and update a number of items (e.g., Hongwanishkul et al, 2005).…”

“…Mathematics skills (usually numeracy) and EF develop throughout the preschool years (e.g., Purpura, Schmitt, & Ganley, 2017;Schmitt et al, 2017;Wolf & McCoy, 2019) and influence a child's academic achievement in kindergarten and into grade school (e.g., Nesbitt, Fuhs, & Farran, 2019;Nguyen & Duncan, 2019;Simanowski & Krajewski, 2019). Few significant pre-k gender differences are reported in mathematics performance (Corrington, 2008;Ganley & Lubienski, 2016), and upon kindergarten entry, girls score the same as boys (Robinson & Lubienski, 2011) or higher (Corrington, 2008).…”