Xiangzhi Meng , Li Zhao , Xin Chen , Chi Zhang , Yuewei Cao , Xiujie Yang
{"title":"Phonological processing and spatial attention contribute to mathematics performance in different ways: A 3-year longitudinal study","authors":"Xiangzhi Meng , Li Zhao , Xin Chen , Chi Zhang , Yuewei Cao , Xiujie Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.ecresq.2024.01.010","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the differential contributions of phonological processing and spatial attention skills to mathematical performance in Chinese children. The study involved the assessment of 184 children's phonological awareness, phonological memory, rapid automatized naming (RAN), visual-spatial sketchpad, and sustained attention during their kindergarten. Three years later, the same children were evaluated on tasks related to simple addition, non-symbolic comparison, number identification, complex word problems, and multi-digit arithmetic. Through path analysis, the study revealed that phonological awareness in kindergarten directly predicted later word problem-solving abilities. Additionally, simple addition mediated the relationship between visual-spatial working memory and multi-digit arithmetic performance, while number identification mediated the relationship between sustained attention and complex word problems. However, number processing skills did not mediate the relationship between phonological processing and mathematics performance. These findings contribute to our understanding of the complex interplay between visual-spatial skills, phonological processing skills, number processing, and mathematics performance.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48348,"journal":{"name":"Early Childhood Research Quarterly","volume":"67 ","pages":"Pages 320-329"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Early Childhood Research Quarterly","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885200624000103","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the differential contributions of phonological processing and spatial attention skills to mathematical performance in Chinese children. The study involved the assessment of 184 children's phonological awareness, phonological memory, rapid automatized naming (RAN), visual-spatial sketchpad, and sustained attention during their kindergarten. Three years later, the same children were evaluated on tasks related to simple addition, non-symbolic comparison, number identification, complex word problems, and multi-digit arithmetic. Through path analysis, the study revealed that phonological awareness in kindergarten directly predicted later word problem-solving abilities. Additionally, simple addition mediated the relationship between visual-spatial working memory and multi-digit arithmetic performance, while number identification mediated the relationship between sustained attention and complex word problems. However, number processing skills did not mediate the relationship between phonological processing and mathematics performance. These findings contribute to our understanding of the complex interplay between visual-spatial skills, phonological processing skills, number processing, and mathematics performance.
期刊介绍:
For over twenty years, Early Childhood Research Quarterly (ECRQ) has influenced the field of early childhood education and development through the publication of empirical research that meets the highest standards of scholarly and practical significance. ECRQ publishes predominantly empirical research (quantitative or qualitative methods) on issues of interest to early childhood development, theory, and educational practice (Birth through 8 years of age). The journal also occasionally publishes practitioner and/or policy perspectives, book reviews, and significant reviews of research. As an applied journal, we are interested in work that has social, policy, and educational relevance and implications and work that strengthens links between research and practice.