Patterning counts: Individual differences in children's calculation are uniquely predicted by sequence patterning

Many studies have examined the cognitive determinants of children's calculation, yet the specific contribution of children's patterning abilities to calculation remains relatively unexplored. This study investigated whether children's ability to complete sequence patterns (i.e., add the missing element into 2-4-?-8) uniquely predicted individual differences in calculation and whether these associations differed depending on the type of stimuli in these sequence patterns (i.e., number, letter, time, or rotation). Participants were 65 children in first and second grade (Mage = 7.40 years, SD = 0.44). All children completed four tasks of sequence patterning: number, letter, time, and rotation. Calculation was measured via addition and subtraction tasks. We also measured cognitive determinants of individual differences in calculation-namely symbolic number comparison, motor processing speed, visuospatial working memory, and nonverbal IQ-to verify whether patterning predicted calculation when controlling for these additional measures. We observed significant relationships between the patterning dimensions and calculation, except for the rotation dimension. Follow-up regressions, controlling for the aforementioned cognitive determinants of calculation, revealed that the number and time dimensions were strong predictors of calculation, whereas the evidence for the letter dimension was only anecdotal and the evidence for the rotation dimension was nonexistent, suggesting some degree of specificity of different types of sequence patterning in predicting calculation. Symbolic magnitude processing remained a powerful unique correlate of calculation performance. These findings add to our understanding of individual differences in calculation ability, such that sequence patterning could begin to be considered as one of the cognitive skills underlying calculation ability in young children.