Cognitive Factors Underlying Mathematical Skills: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Amland, T., Grande, G., Scherer, R., Lervåg, A., & Melby-Lervåg, M. (2024). Cognitive factors underlying mathematical skills: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychological Bulletin.Advance online publication.
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Abstract
In understanding the nature of mathematical skills, the most influential theories suggest that mathematical cognition draws on different systems: numerical, linguistic, spatial, and general cognitive skills. Studies show that skills in these areas are highly predictive of outcomes in mathematics. Nonetheless, the strength of these relations with mathematical achievement varies, and little is known about the moderators or relative importance of each predictor. Based on 269 concurrent and 174 longitudinal studies comprising 2,696 correlations, this meta-analysis summarizes the evidence on cognitive predictors of mathematical skills in children and adolescents. The results showed that nonsymbolic number skills (often labeled approximate number sense) correlate significantly less with mathematical achievement than symbolic number skills and that various aspects of language relate differently to mathematical outcomes. We observed differential predictive patterns for arithmetic and word problems, and these patterns only partly supported the theory of three pathways—quantitative, linguistic, and spatial—for mathematical skills. Concurrently, nonsymbolic number and phonological skills were weak but exclusive predictors of arithmetic skills, whereas nonverbal intelligence quotient (IQ) predicted word problems only. Only symbolic number skills predicted both arithmetic and word problems concurrently. Longitudinally, symbolic number skills, spatial ability, and nonverbal IQ predicted both arithmetic and word problems, whereas language comprehension was important for word problem solving only. As in the concurrent data, nonsymbolic number skill was a weak longitudinal predictor of arithmetic skills. We conclude that the candidates to target in intervention studies are symbolic number skills and language comprehension. It is uncertain whether the two other important predictors, nonverbal IQ and spatial skills, are actually malleable.
Public Significance Statement
This systematic review and meta-analysis found that symbolic number skills, language comprehension, and nonverbal reasoning skills are the most important foundational skills of achievement in mathematics in childhood and early adolescence. Children's understanding of digits and number words seems to be the most promising target to design content that can be tested in future intervention studies. Moreover, whether interventions targeting language comprehension could benefit children struggling with mathematical word problems should be further examined. Mathematical skills is a fundamental factor both for a productive society and for individual development and employment and finding ways that might increase mathematical abilities can potentially have great consequences.
Keywords: mathematics achievement, language, spatial ability, number sense, meta-analytic structural equation modeling
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