Open this publication in new window or tab >>2018 (English)In: Journal of experimental child psychology (Print), ISSN 0022-0965, E-ISSN 1096-0457, Vol. 167, p. 369-387Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
A modified pathways to mathematics model was used to examine the cognitive mechanisms underlying arithmetic skills in third graders. A total of 269 children were assessed on tasks tapping the four pathways and arithmetic skills. A path analysis showed that symbolic number processing was directly supported by the linguistic and approximate quantitative pathways. The direct contribution from the four pathways to arithmetic proficiency varied; the linguistic pathway supported single-digit arithmetic and word problem solving, whereas the approximate quantitative pathway supported only multi-digit calculation. The spatial processing and verbal working memory pathways supported only arithmetic word problem solving. The notion of hierarchical levels of arithmetic was supported by the results, and the different levels were supported by different constellations of pathways. However, the strongest support to the hierarchical levels of arithmetic were provided by the proximal arithmetic skills.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2018
Keywords
Approximate quantitative pathway, Arithmetic, Linguistic pathway, Spatial processing pathway, Symbolic number processing, Verbal working memory pathway
National Category
Psychology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-144197 (URN)10.1016/j.jecp.2017.11.010 (DOI)000423652300024 ()29232622 (PubMedID)
Note
Funding agencies: Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research [2008-0238]
2018-01-102018-01-102018-02-21