Numerical cognition can take place in multiple representational formats, such as Arabic digits (e.g., 1), verbal number words (e.g., “two”), and nonsymbolic (e.g., •••) numerical magnitude. Basic numerical discrimination abilities are key factors underlying the development of arithmetic abilities, acting as an important developmental precursor of adult-level numeracy. While prior research has begun to detail the neural correlates associated with basic numerical discrimination skills in different representational formats, the interactions between functional neural circuits are less understood. A growing body of evidence suggests that the functional networks recruited by number discrimination tasks differ between children and adults, which may provide valuable insights into the development of numerical cognition. To this end, we posed two questions: how do the interactions between functional circuits associated with number processing differ in children and adults? Are differences in functional network connectivity modulated by numerical representational codes? A theoretically motivated 22 ROI analysis indicated significant functional connectivity differences between children and adults across all three codes. Adults demonstrated sparser and more consistent connectivity patterns across codes, indicative of developmental domain-specialization for number processing. Although neural activity in children and adults is similar, the functional connectivity supporting number processing appears subject to substantial developmental maturation effects.

Executive functions consist of three separable but correlated functions; inhibition, working memory, and shifting. Here we used an extensive and validated battery of objective performance measures of executive functions and intelligence to investigate if individual differences in these cognitive abilities can explain sound financial behavior and subjective financial well-being. Additionally, we measured a set of self-reported personality traits, including self-control, optimism, and deliberative thinking. We found that neither executive functions nor intelligence was associated with sound financial behavior and financial well-being in our sample. Although objective self-control, measured as the ability to override impulses (i.e. inhibition), could not be linked to financial behavior and financial wellbeing, subjective (i.e. self-reported) self-control had a strong positive effect. This indicates that the ability to avoid financial temptation is more important than the cognitive ability to override impulses when it comes to sound financial behavior and financial well-being.

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.

To improve our understanding of how people make financial decisions, it is important to investigate what psychological characteristics influence individuals’ positive financial behavior and financial well-being. In this study, we explore the effect of individual differences in self-control and other non-cognitive factors on financial behavior and financial well-being. A survey containing measures of financial behavior, subjective financial well-being, self-control, optimism, deliberative thinking and demographic variables was sent to a representative sample (n=2063)" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; line-height: normal; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(80, 80, 80); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Microsoft Sans Serif', 'Segoe UI Symbol', STIXGeneral, 'Cambria Math', 'Arial Unicode MS', sans-serif; position: relative;"> of the Swedish population. Our findings extend the application of the behavioral lifecycle hypothesis beyond savings behavior, to include general financial behavior. People with good self-control are more likely to save money from every pay-check, have better general financial behavior, feel less anxious about financial matters, and feel more secure in their current and future financial situation.

Context: The aim was to further understand the heterogeneity of  developmental dyscalculia (DD). Utilizing four children (8-9 year-old) performance was contrasted against predominant hypotheses of DD.

Case report: Despite showing similar mathematical deficits, these children showed remarkable interindividual variability regarding cognitive profile and deficits. Two cases were consistent with the approximate number system deficit account, and the general magnitude-processing deficit account. One case had an access deficit in combination with a general cognitive deficit. One cases suffered from general cognitive deficits only.

Conclusions: The results showed that DD cannot be attributed to a single explanatory factor. These findings support a multiple deficits account of DD and suggest that some cases have multiple deficits, whereas other cases have a single deficit. We discuss a previously proposed distinction between primary DD and secondary DD, and suggest hypotheses of dysfunctional neurocognitive correlates responsible for the displayed deficits.

Background

Developing sufficient mathematical skills is a prerequisite to function adequately in society today. Given this, an important task is to increase our understanding regarding the cognitive mechanisms underlying young people's acquisition of early number skills and formal mathematical knowledge.

Aims

The purpose was to examine whether the pathways to mathematics model provides a valid account of the cognitive mechanisms underlying symbolic-number processing and mathematics in adolescents. The pathways model states that the three pathways should provide independent support to symbolic-number skill. Each pathway's unique contribution to formal mathematics varies depending on the complexity and demand of the tasks.

Sample

The study used a sample of 114 adolescents (71 girls). Their mean age was 14.60 years (SD = 1.00).

Methods

The adolescents were assessed on tests tapping the three pathways and general cognitive abilities (e.g., working memory). A structural equation path analysis was computed.

Results

Symbolic-number comparison was predicted by the linguistic pathway, the quantitative pathway, and processing speed. The linguistic pathway, quantitative pathways, and symbolic-number comparison predicted arithmetic fact retrieval. The linguistic pathway, working memory, visual analogies, and symbolic-number comparison predicted percentage calculation.

Conclusions

There are both similarities and differences in the cognitive mechanisms underlying arithmetic fact retrieval and percentage calculation in adolescents. Adolescents’ symbolic-number processing, arithmetic fact retrieval, and percentage calculation continue to rely on the linguistic pathways, whereas the reliance upon the spatial pathway has ceased. The reliance upon the quantitative pathway varies depending on the task.

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a learning disability that is characterized by severe difficulties with acquiring age-appropriate mathematical skills that cannot be attributed to insufficient education, language skills, or motivation. The prevalence rate is estimated at 3-6%, meaning that a substantial portion of the population struggles to learn mathematics to such a large degree that it affects overall well-being and academic prospects. However, our understanding of the etiology of DD is incomplete and there are competing hypotheses regarding the characteristics of DD and its underlying causal factors. The purpose of the current thesis is to contribute to our understanding of DD from the perspective of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience. To this end, we identify children with DD to identify the cognitive determinants of DD that hamper their ability to learn basic mathematics. It is believed that human beings are endowed with an innate ability to represent numerosities, an ability phylogenetically shared with other species. We investigate whether the purported innate number system plays a role in children with DD insofar as  failures in this system may undermine the acquisition of symbolic representations of number. Although some researchers believe DD is a monolithic learning disability that is genetic and neurobiological in origin, the empirical support for various hypotheses suggests that DD may be shaped by heterogeneous characteristics and underlying causes. The present thesis, and the studies presented therein, provides support for the notion that DD is indeed heterogeneous. We identify at least two subtypes of DD that are characterized by specific deficits in number processing, and one subtype that could more aptly be labelled as a mathematical learning disability, the causal factors of which are likely limited to deficits in non-numerical abilities. In addition, we locate candidate neurocognitive correlates that may be dysfunctional in DD.

Dyskalkyli är en specifik inlärningssvårighet som karaktäriseras av stora svårigheter med att tillgodogöra sig matematikkunskaper som inte kan härledas till bristande undervisningsmöjligheter, språkfärdigheter, eller motivation. Prevalensen av dyskalkyli uppskattas till 3-6%, vilket innebär att en ansenlig andel av populationen har sådana besvär att lära sig matematik att det påverkar deras allmänna välbefinnande och akademiska möjligheter. Förståelsen för dyskalkyli är emellertid knapphändig, men ett flertal konkurrerande hypoteser har föreslagits avseende dess karaktäristika och kausala faktorer. Syftet med denna avhandling är att öka vår förståelse av dyskalkyli utifrån ett kognitionspsykologiskt perspektiv och utifrån kognitiv neurovetenskap. Följaktligen identifierade vi skolbarn med specifika och stora matematiksvårigheter för att sedermera undersöka vilka kognitiva faktorer som underminerar deras förmåga att förvärva grundläggande matematikfärdigheter. Rådande uppfattning är att människan är utrustad med en medfödd förmåga att uppfatta och representera antal, vilket är en förmåga som vi fylogenetiskt delar med andra arter. Vi undersöker huruvida detta medfödda antalsuppfattningssystem är involverat vid utvecklandet av dyskalkyli hos barn, där ett dysfunktionellt antalsuppfattningssystem kan underminera förmågan att tillgodogöra sig symboliska representationer av antal. Gängse uppfattning gör gällande att dyskalkyli är en enhetlig och homogen inlärningssvårighet som genetiskt och neurobiologiskt betingad. Dock har ett flertal hypoteser angående orsaken till dyskalkyli fått empiriskt stöd, vilket möjliggör tolkningen att dyskalkyli snarare är en heterogen inlärningssvårighet med olika kausala faktorer och egenskaper. Föreliggande avhandling ger stöd för denna senare tolkning. Vi identifierar åtminstone två  subtyper av dyskalkyli, som vardera karaktäriseras av specifika svårigheter med numeriska färdigheter, samt en subtyp som mer korrekt bör benämnas som matematiska inlärningssvårigheter där bidragande faktorer sannolikt kan härledas till icke-numeriska förmågor. Vidare så identifierar vi potentiella neurokognitiva korrelat som är dysfunktionella vid dyskalkyli.

Continuous dimensions, such as time, space, and numerosity, have been suggested to be subserved by common neurocognitive mechanisms. Neuroimaging studies that have investigated either one or two dimensions simultaneously have consistently identified neural correlates in the parietal cortex of the brain. However, the degree of neural overlap across several dimensions has yet to be established, and it remains an open question whether a potential overlap can be conceptualized as a neurocognitive magnitude processing system. The current functional resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigated the potential neurocognitive overlap across three dimensions. A sample of adults (N = 24) performed three different magnitude processing tasks: a temporal discrimination task, a number discrimination task, and a line length discrimination task. A conjunction analysis revealed several overlapping neural substrates across multiple magnitude dimensions, and we argue that these cortical nodes comprise a distributed magnitude processing system. Key components of this predominantly right-lateralized system include the intraparietal sulcus, insula, premotor cortex, inferior frontal gyrus and frontal eye-fields. Together with previous research highlighting IPS, our results suggest that the insula also is a core component of the magnitude processing system. We discuss the functional role of each of these components in the magnitude processing system and suggest that further research of this system may provide insight into the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders where cognitive deficits in magnitude processing are manifest.

This study investigated if developmental dyscalculia (DD) in children with different profiles of mathematical deficits has the same or different cognitive origins. The defective approximate number system hypothesis and the access deficit hypothesis were tested using two different groups of children with DD (11-13 years old): a group with arithmetic fact dyscalculia (AFD) and a group with general dyscalculia (GD). Several different aspects of number magnitude processing were assessed in these two groups and compared with age-matched typically achieving children. The GD group displayed weaknesses with both symbolic and nonsymbolic number processing, whereas the AFD group displayed problems only with symbolic number processing. These findings provide evidence that the origins of DD in children with different profiles of mathematical problems diverge. Children with GD have impairment in the innate approximate number system, whereas children with AFD suffer from an access deficit. These findings have implications for researchers selection procedures when studying dyscalculia, and also for practitioners in the educational setting.

The current study investigated whether processing of number, space, and time contributes to mathematical abilities beyond previously known domain-general cognitive abilities in a sample of 8- to 10-year-old children (N = 133). Multiple regression analyses revealed that executive functions and general intelligence predicted all aspects of mathematics and overall mathematical ability. Working memory capacity did not contribute significantly to our models, whereas spatial ability was a strong predictor of achievement. The study replicates earlier research showing that non-symbolic number processing seems to lose predictive power of mathematical abilities once the symbolic system is acquired. Novel findings include the fact that time discrimination ability was tied to calculation ability. Therefore, a conclusion is that magnitude processing in general contributes to mathematical achievement. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.