Cragg-et-al-1-s2.0-S0010027717300239-main.pdf (525.67 kB)
Direct and indirect influences of executive functions on mathematics achievement
journal contribution
posted on 2017-02-02, 11:12 authored by Lucy Cragg, Sarah Keeble, Sophie Richardson, Hannah E. Roome, Camilla GilmoreCamilla GilmoreAchievement in mathematics is predicted by an individual’s domain-specific factual
knowledge, procedural skill and conceptual understanding as well as domain-general
executive function skills. In this study we investigated the extent to which executive function skills contribute to these three components of mathematical knowledge, whether this mediates the relationship between executive functions and overall mathematics achievement, and if these relationships change with age. Two hundred and ninety three participants aged between 8 and 25 years completed a large battery of mathematics and executive function tests. Domain-specific skills partially mediated the relationship between executive functions and mathematics achievement: Inhibitory control within the numerical domain was associated with factual knowledge and procedural skill, which in turn was associated with mathematical achievement. Working memory contributed to mathematics achievement indirectly through factual knowledge, procedural skill and, to a lesser extent, conceptual understanding. There
remained a substantial direct pathway between working memory and mathematics achievement however, which may reflect the role of working memory in identifying and constructing problem representations. These relationships were remarkably stable from 8
years through to young adulthood. Our findings help to refine existing multi-component frameworks of mathematics and understand the mechanisms by which executive functions support mathematics achievement.
Funding
This research was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (Grant number RES-062-23-3280).
History
School
- Science
Department
- Mathematics Education Centre
Published in
CognitionCitation
CRAGG, L. ...et al., 2017. Direct and indirect influences of executive functions on mathematics achievement. Cognition, 162, pp.12–26Publisher
Elsevier B.V. (© The Authors)Version
- VoR (Version of Record)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Acceptance date
2016-12-19Publication date
2017Notes
Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).ISSN
1873-7838Publisher version
Language
- en
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