Background: Children's numerical and arithmetic skills differ greatly already at an early age. Although research focusing on accounting for these large individual differences clearly demonstrates that mathematical performance draws upon several cognitive abilities, our knowledge concerning key abilities underlying mathematical skill development is…

We assessed a range of theoretically critical predictors (numerosity discrimination, number knowledge, counting, language, executive function and finger gnosis) of early arithmetic development in a large unselected sample of 569 children at school entry. Assessments were repeated 12 months later. Although all predictors (except finger gnosis) were…

Studies have shown that numerosity-based arithmetic training can promote arithmetic learning in typically developing children as well as children with developmental dyscalculia (DD), but the cognitive mechanism underlying this training effect remains unclear. The main aim of the current study was to examine the role of visual form perception in…

This study examined cognitive precursors of hierarchical mathematical development. Six-year-old children (n = 258) were assessed on number skills, cognitive skills, and arithmetic 1 year prior to school entry. Skills in advanced arithmetic and advanced mathematics were assessed in Grades 3 and 6, respectively. Path analyses were computed and…

Background: This study aimed to identify the mathematical domains affected in adults with neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) and the impact of the numerical difficulties on the patients' activities of daily living. Methods: We assessed 28 adult patients with NF1 and 28 healthy control participants. All participants completed the standardised battery of…

This study investigated if developmental dyscalculia (DD) in children with different profiles of mathematical deficits has the same or different cognitive origins. The defective approximate number system hypothesis and the access deficit hypothesis were tested using two different groups of children with DD (11-13 years old): a group with…

The sensitivity of number sense as cognitive phenotype for mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) was assessed in siblings of children with MLD (n = 9) and age matched children without family members with MLD (n = 63). A number line estimation paradigm was used as a measure of children's early number sense. In line with the triple code model of…

A comprehensive working memory battery and tests of mathematical skills were administered to 90 children--41 in Year 1 (5-6 years of age) and 49 in Year 3 (7-8 years of age). Working memory could explain statistically significant variance in number writing, magnitude judgment, and single-digit arithmetic, but the different components of working…

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) still lacks a generally accepted definition. A major problem is that the cognitive component processes contributing to arithmetic performance are still poorly defined. By a reanalysis of our previous event-related brain potential (ERP) data (Soltesz et al., 2007) here our objective was to identify and compare…

This study examined how four domain-specific skills (arithmetic procedural skills, number fact retrieval, place value concept, and number sense) and two domain-general processing skills (working memory and processing speed) may account for Chinese children's mathematics learning difficulties. Children with mathematics difficulties (MD) of two age…

This paper reports the findings of two related studies that examined the mathematical strengths and weaknesses of children with dyslexia. In study one, dyslexic children were compared to children without special educational needs on tests that assessed arithmetic fact recall, place value understanding and counting speed. Study two used the same…

Working memory is the cognitive ability to hold a discrete amount of information in mind in an accessible state for utilization in mental tasks. This cognitive ability is impaired in many clinical populations. There have been a number of theoretical shifts in the way that working memory is conceptualized and assessed in the experimental…

Mathematics is a uniquely human capacity. Studies of animals and human infants reveal, however, that this capacity builds on language-independent mechanisms for quantifying small numbers ([less than] 4) precisely and large numbers approximately. It is unclear whether animals and human infants can spontaneously tap mechanisms for quantifying large…

The factor-analytic history of the isolation and identification of the cognitive ability construct known as Number or Numerical Facility is described. Empirical documentation from the psychometric literature is discussed, and examples of items from a variety of tests which have defined and been associated with the Number factor are included to…