Early mathematical skills contribute to later school performance and socio-economic status. Working memory is related to mathematical skills, but spatial and language skills have independent effects on separate areas of mathematical skills such as solving word problems or arithmetic skills. In this study, 9- to 10-year-old children's (N = 57)…

Math anxiety negatively relates to math performance. This negative relationship may be exacerbated in low-progress math learners. However, there are limited studies on math anxiety among low-progress learners in a paradoxically high-performing education system like Singapore. To fill this research gap, this research analyzed the anxiety profiles…

This study examined auditive and visual working memory and metacognitive knowledge in 92 gifted children (aged between eight and twelve), utilising a pre-test-training-post-test design, known as the cognitive training design. This approach was used to examine the working memory and metacognitive knowledge of gifted children concerning the…

"Research Findings:" Executive Function (EF) and Early Math (EM) are foundational skills for children's school success. Interventions have shown to foster these skills, but their effectiveness in less developed countries remains unknown. This study examined the initial efficacy of an eight-week EF and an EM skills program for young…

Research evaluating predictors of mathematics ability in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is scarce and inconclusive. The present study first compared the mathematics ability and cognitive abilities of preschoolers with ASD and age-matched typically developing (TD) peers. Then, we examined the relative contributions of cognitive…

Background: High working memory capacity is associated with improved mathematical problem-solving skills. A leading theory about why working memory enhances problem-solving suggests that capable problem solvers might offload information from their working memory for later use. Aims: This study examined whether the ability to offload information…

Physical activity (PA) is well-documented to benefit students' executive function (EF) and academic performance. However, prevailing research has predominantly focused on domain-general EF (across academic domains) while overlooking domain-specific EF (within specific subjects). To address this gap, this opinion article proposes an integrative…

Background: The working memory (WM) system is recognized as a crucial cognitive function that underpins the acquisition of new knowledge and the development of foundational skills during childhood. Children's early literacy and numeracy skills lay the foundation for future academic success in reading and mathematics. While previous research has…

"Research Findings:" Pattern creation (PC) is creating a pattern unit based on children's own understanding of the concept of pattern, without being provided with a pattern unit as a reference, and the repetition of this pattern unit to create a complete structure. This study explored the performance and predictors of pattern creation…

In this paper, we investigated the contribution of both cognitive and affective factors to mathematical skills. In particular, we looked at the protective role of self-concept for mathematical learning and performance. In a field study, we tested the relation of math self-concept and short-term visuo-spatial working memory to the mathematical…

The link between working memory and academic achievement has been demonstrated across many research studies, with children who have lower working memory capacity typically also having lower levels of achievement in both literacy and numeracy. However, much of this research has been conducted in Western, educated, industrialized, rich and…

In recent years, there has been a growing enrolment of students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) in Italian higher-education programmes, underscoring the need for universities to support these students by identifying their strengths and weaknesses and developing targeted interventions. However, literature focusing on university students…

Types of mathematical learning disability (MLD) are very heterogeneous. Lower scores on mathematics and several cognitive skills have been revealed in samples with MLD compared with those with typical development (TD), but these studies vary in sample selection, making it difficult to generalize conclusions. Furthermore, many studies have…

The paper examined the relations among problem solving, automaticity, and working memory load (WML) by changing the difficulty level of task characteristics through two applications. In Study 1, involving 68 engineering students, a 2 (automaticity) x 2 (WML) design was utilized for arithmetic problems. In Study 2, involving 76 engineering…

Understanding the magnitudes represented by numerals is a core component of early mathematical development and is often assessed by accuracy in situating numerals and fractions on a number line. Performance on these measures is consistently related to performance in other mathematics domains, but the strength of these relations may be…