The Influences of Executive Function and Relational Language on Number Relation Skills

Abstract

Executive function (EF) skills (i.e., inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility) and relational language (e.g., more, equal, before, between) predict mathematical skills and may be particularly important for number relation skills, a component of early numeracy skills that involves the knowledge of cardinal (e.g., 5 is more than 4) and ordinal (e.g., 5 comes after 4) number relations. Specifically, comparing and making connections between numbers may require EF skills and relational language. I used a pretest – training – posttest paradigm to examine (a) whether EF skills and relational language influence number relation skills, (b) whether number relation skills mediate the reported relations between EF skills and mathematical skills, and between relational language and mathematical skills, (c) whether incorporating EF prompts and relational language instruction in number training has additional effects on number relation skills beyond number training alone, and (d) whether children’s initial EF skills predict pretest to posttest gains in number relation skills beyond their initial number relation skills. I found that (a) EF skills and relational language separately predicted number relation skills, (b) number relation skills fully mediated the associations between EF skills and mathematical skills, and between relational language and mathematical skills, (c) incorporating EF prompts and relational language instruction in number training did not have additional effects on children’s number relation skills, and (d) children’s initial EF skills did not predict improvement in number relation skills beyond their initial number relation skills. The results extend previous findings on the influences of EF skills and relational language on mathematical skills and have implications for future research and educational practices.