A meta-analytic review of the associations between patterning and academic achievement

This study aimed to determine the magnitude of the associations between patterning skills and academic achievement. We conducted a meta-analysis of 71 studies with 82 independent samples and more than 16,500 participants. Primary results indicated a moderate, positive association between patterning and mathematics achievement (r = .42, 95% confidence interval [.37, .46]), which was significantly larger than the small, positive association between patterning and reading achievement (r = .26, 95% confidence interval [.19, .33]). Critically, these bivariate concurrent associations between patterning and the achievement domains were also present longitudinally after accounting for prior achievement, and the results of both two-stage meta-analytic structural equation modeling and meta-analytic incremental validity analyses consistently revealed that patterning showed incremental validity beyond related cognitive abilities for mathematics and reading achievement. Further analyses showed that the patterning effects on academic achievements were moderated by age, such that the effects were stronger for younger participants. These findings highlight that patterning has unique pathways to academic achievement in both mathematics and reading. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).