Spontaneous focusing on numerosity in preschool as a predictor of mathematical skills and knowledge in the fifth grade

• Published in: Journal of experimental child psychology Vol. 169; pp. 42 - 58
• Main Authors: Nanu, Cristina E., McMullen, Jake, Munck, Petriina, Hannula-Sormunen, Minna M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.05.2018
• Subjects: Children; Develpment; Early numerical skills; Math achievement; Preschool; Spontaneous focusing on numerosity; Preschool; Develpment; Early numerical skills; Math achievement; Children; Spontaneous focusing on numerosity
• ISSN: 0022-0965; 1096-0457
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2017.12.011

•Preschool SFON predicted math fluency and number line estimation 7 years later.•SFON did not predict math motivation, reading or rational number skills.•Results suggest domain-specificity and cognitive nature of SFON.•Construct validity of SFON imitation tasks with very small numerosities was shown. Previous studies in a variety of countries have shown that there are substantial individual differences in children’s spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON), and these differences are positively related to the development of early numerical skills in preschool and primary school. A total of 74 5-year-olds participated in a 7-year follow-up study, in which we explored whether SFON measured with very small numerosities at 5 years of age predicts mathematical skills and knowledge, math motivation, and reading in fifth grade at 11 years of age. Results show that preschool SFON is a unique predictor of arithmetic fluency and number line estimation but not of rational number knowledge, mathematical achievement, math motivation, or reading. These results hold even after taking into account age, IQ, working memory, digit naming, and cardinality skills. The results of the current study further the understanding of how preschool SFON tendency plays a role in the development of different formal mathematical skills over an extended period of time.