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Numerical and arithmetical cognition: patterns of functions and deficits in children at risk for a mathematical
D C Geary1, M K Hoard, C O Hamson
1University of Missouri, Columbia 65211-2500, USA.
Insights
Children at risk for learning disabilities (LD) show distinct cognitive deficits. Specific cognitive tasks help identify these deficits, explaining academic achievement differences beyond IQ.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Educational Psychology
- Developmental Neuroscience
Background:
- Learning disabilities (LD) affect mathematics and reading acquisition in children.
- Identifying specific cognitive deficits is crucial for understanding LD heterogeneity.
- Cognitive profiles associated with LD require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate cognitive functions in first-grade children at risk for mathematics and/or reading LD.
- To differentiate cognitive profiles among children with varying LD profiles.
- To determine the extent to which cognitive tasks explain academic achievement beyond IQ.
Main Methods:
- Classified first-grade children (n=55) at risk for LD based on achievement tests and IQ.
- Included a control group (n=35) of academically normal peers.
- Administered experimental tasks assessing number skills, counting, arithmetic, working memory, and memory retrieval.
Main Results:
- Identified distinct patterns of cognitive strengths and weaknesses across different at-risk groups.
- Cognitive task performance explained approximately 50% of math achievement differences and 10% of reading achievement differences, beyond IQ.
- Cognitive deficits were linked to specific academic achievement disparities.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive assessments offer valuable insights into the underlying deficits of various learning disabilities.
- Understanding cognitive profiles aids in explaining individual differences in academic achievement.
- Targeted interventions can be informed by specific cognitive deficit identification.
Abstract:
Based on performance on standard achievement tests, first-grade children (mean age = 82 months) with IQ scores in the low-average to high-average range were classified as at risk for a learning disability (LD) in mathematics, reading, or both. These at-risk children (n = 55) and a control group of academically normal peers (n = 35) were administered experimental tasks that assessed number comprehension and production skills, counting knowledge, arithmetic skills, working memory, and ease of retrieving information from long-term memory. Different patterns of intact cognitive functions and deficits were found for children in the different at-risk groups. As a set, performance on the experimental tasks accounted for roughly 50% and 10% of the group differences in mathematics and reading achievement, respectively, above and beyond the influence of IQ. Performance on the experimental tasks thus provides insights into the cognitive deficits underlying different forms of LD, as well as into the sources of individual differences in academic achievement.