The hundreds chart is a valuable tool for teachers in elementary mathematics classrooms. The present study investigated the effects of spatial configurations of virtual hundreds charts on children's knowledge of base-ten concepts. Kindergarten and first-grade students were assigned to three instructional conditions in which they worked with a…

This study examined the effects of training involving spatial versus nonspatial representations of numerical magnitude for promoting arithmetic fluency. The key goal was to advance theoretical understanding of the relation between spatial and math learning, while simultaneously laying the groundwork for the development of future educational…

Background: Recent research suggested fluent processing as an explanation on why number sense contributes to simple arithmetic tasks--'Fluency hypothesis'. Aims: The current study investigates whether number sense contributes to such arithmetic tasks when other cognitive factors are controlled for (including those that mediate the link); and…

This study is conducted to further understand the direct and indirect contributions of executive functioning (visuospatial updating, verbal updating, inhibition, shifting) and arithmetic fluency to mathematical problem-solving in 458 fourth-grade students. Arithmetic fluency along with visuospatial and verbal updating were significant predictors…

Previous research has found that different presentations of the same concept can result in different patterns of transfer to isomorphic instances of that concept. Much of this work has framed these effects in terms of advantages and disadvantages of concreteness or abstractness. We note that mathematics is a richly structured field, with deeply…

Previous research has found that different presentations of the same concept can result in different patterns of transfer to isomorphic instances of the same concept. Much of this work has framed these effects in terms of advantages and disadvantages of concreteness or abstractness. We note that mathematics is a richly structured field, with…

Children start preschool with large individual differences in their early numerical abilities. Little is known about the importance of heterogeneous patterns that exist within these individual differences. A person-centered analytic approach might be helpful to unravel these patterns and the cognitive and environmental factors that are associated…

OECD-PISA which evaluates the education quality of Europe focused on mathematics, and Turkey was ranked 50 among 72 countries. When the mathematics literacy was analyzed in terms of years, it is seen that the performance of the students in Turkey in PISA 2015 was lower compared to PISA 2009 and PISA 2012. This shows that students have difficulty…

The longitudinal relations of domain-general and numerical skills at ages 6-7 years to 3 cognitive domains of arithmetic learning, namely knowing (written computation), applying (arithmetic word problems), and reasoning (arithmetic reasoning) at age 11, were examined for a representative sample of 378 Finnish children. The results showed that…

The mental number line metaphor describes how numbers are associated with space. These spatial-numerical associations (SNA) are subserved by parietal structures (mainly intraparietal sulcus [IPS] and posterior superior parietal lobule [PSPL]). Generally, it is assumed that this association is a basic cornerstone for arithmetic skills. In this…

This unique volume surveys recent research on spatial visualization in mathematics in the fields of cognitive psychology and mathematics education. The general topic of spatial skill and mathematics has a long research tradition, but has been gaining attention in recent years, although much of this research happens in disconnected subfields. This…

Are there differential benefits of training sequential number knowledge versus spatial skills for children's numerical and spatial performance? Three- to five-year-old children (N = 84) participated in 1 session of either sequential training (e.g., what comes before and after the number 5?) or non-numerical spatial training (i.e., decomposition of…

We examined the effectiveness of (a) a working memory (WM) training program and (b) a combination program involving both WM training and direct instruction for students with geometry difficulties (GD). Four students with GD participated. A multiple-baseline design across participants was employed. During the Phase 1, students received six sessions…

"Improving Mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1" reviews the best available evidence to offer five recommendations for developing the maths skills of 3-7-year olds. Recommendations include integrating maths into different activities throughout the day -- for example, at registration and snack time -- to familiarise children…

There are many continuous quantitative dimensions in the physical world. Philosophical, psychological and neural work has focused mostly on space and number. However, there are other important continuous dimensions (e.g., time, mass). Moreover, space can be broken down into more specific dimensions (e.g., length, area, density) and number can be…