Typical and Atypical Acquisition of Mathematics, Reading, and Writing: Cognitive Profiles in Early Development
2020-08
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Typical and Atypical Acquisition of Mathematics, Reading, and Writing: Cognitive Profiles in Early Development
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2020-08
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Academic success is at the heart of educational systems. Nevertheless, underachievement in core academic domains (mathematics, reading, and writing) and Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs) (dyscalculia, dyslexia, and dysgraphia) are widely reported across the globe. Research on the cognitive abilities that associate with the acquisition of these academic domains has primarily concentrated on school-age children. In contrast, little is known about this topic prior to formal schooling. Understanding preschool periods is critical, because the preschool years set the stage for subsequent learning. We need to better understand better the cognitive abilities mostly/particularly associated with the early development of mathematics, reading, and writing. The Early Academic Skills Development study collected data to gain a deeper understanding of the cognitive abilities that are associated with the development of core academic domains. It used a cross-sectional design and primarily quantitative data to explore these associations. A comprehensive battery of academic, cognitive, and behavioral measures was collected for 32 preschoolers aged 3-5 years old during November 2019 and March 2020. The tests Number Sense, Letter-Word Identification, and Writing were used as proxies for measuring mathematics, reading, and writing, respectively. For assessing cognitive abilities, the indexes of Working Memory (WMI), Visual Spatial (VSI), Verbal Acquisition (VAI), Verbal Comprehension (VCI), and Nonverbal (NVI) were utilized as proxies. The selection of these cognitive variables was based on the existing literature in elementary school-age children and SLDs. As hypotheses, Number Sense, Letter-Word Identification, and Writing were expected to be positively associated with WMI and VSI, VAI and VCI, and VSI and NVI, respectively. The analytical approaches for testing the hypotheses included regression models. The expected findings of this study were not supported by the quantitative analyses; none of the hypotheses of this investigation resulted in statistically reliable associations. None of these results varied while controlling for gender, childcare system, household income, and highest level of mothers’ education. The findings of this study are largely inconclusive, presumably due to the limited sample size. More in-depth interpretations require more intensive data collection to increase the sample size. By filling this gap, the resulting data could inform early education, as well as intervention programs aimed to reduce academic underachievement later on in school. These new data may also enlighten early screening procedures of SLDs that can inform mental health diagnoses, treatments, and remedial education programs, which would avoid short- and long-term consequences and most likely lead to improving academic success.
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University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. August 2020. Major: Educational Psychology. Advisors: Geoffrey Maruyama, Jed Elison. 1 computer file (PDF); vii, 86 pages.
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Schmied, Astrid. (2020). Typical and Atypical Acquisition of Mathematics, Reading, and Writing: Cognitive Profiles in Early Development. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/216838.
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