Spontaneous focusing on numerosity as a domain-specific predictor of arithmetical skills

• Published in: Journal of experimental child psychology Vol. 107; no. 4; pp. 394 - 406
• Main Authors: Hannula, Minna M., Lepola, Janne, Lehtinen, Erno
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01.12.2010; Elsevier; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Arithmetic; Arithmetical skills; Attention; Attention - physiology; Awareness - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child development; Child Development - physiology; Child, Preschool; Children; Cognition - physiology; Comprehension - physiology; Development; Developmental psychology; Female; Finland; Finno Ugric Languages; Focusing attention; Foreign Countries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Grade 2; Humans; Individual Differences; Kindergarten; Kindergarten students; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mathematics; Mathematics Skills; Number; Numbers; Phonetics; Predictions; Predictive Value of Tests; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Reading; Reading Skills; Skills; Task Performance and Analysis; Young Children; Finland; Europe; Focusing attention; Development; Children; Number; Arithmetical skills; Attention; Human; Preschool age; Arithmetics; Cognition; Experimental study; Selective attention; Skill; Reading; School age; Language; Cognitive development; Predictive factor; Child
• ISSN: 0022-0965; 1096-0457
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2010.06.004

The aim of this 2year longitudinal study was to explore whether children’s individual differences in spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON) in kindergarten predict arithmetical and reading skills 2years later in school. Moreover, we investigated whether the positive relationship between SFON and mathematical skills is explained by children’s individual differences in spontaneous focusing on a non-numerical aspect. The participants were 139 Finnish-speaking children. The results show that SFON tendency in kindergarten is a significant domain-specific predictor of arithmetical skills, but not reading skills, assessed at the end of Grade 2. In addition, the relationship between SFON and number sequence skills in kindergarten is not explained by children’s individual differences in their focusing on a non-numerical aspect that is, spatial locations.