TY - JOUR
T1 - Phonological storage and executive function deficits in children with mathematics difficulties
AU - Peng, Peng
AU - Congying, Sun
AU - Beilei, Li
AU - Sha, Tao
N1 - Funding Information:
Part of this work was supported by a National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) grant ( 30970908 ). We thank all students, teachers, principals, and parents for their participation. We also thank Sun Yanping, Yin Yi, Hu Tianting, Guo Nan, and Liu Yunkun for their help with data collection. We also thank Eunsoo Cho and Amanda Miller for their comments on previous version of the manuscript. The data were collected by Peng Peng in partial fulfillment of the requirement for a master in psychology at Beijing Normal University under the supervision of Tao Sha.
PY - 2012/8
Y1 - 2012/8
N2 - Children with mathematics difficulties suffer from working memory deficits. This study investigated the deficit profile of phonological storage and executive functions in working memory among children with mathematics difficulties. Based on multiple instruments and two assessment points, 68 children were screened out of 805 fifth graders. Of these 68 children, 18 were classified as children with only mathematics difficulties (MD), 20 were classified as children with mathematics and reading difficulties (MDRD), and 30 were typically developing (TD) peers matched on age and general ability. Measures for phonological storage, dual-task performance, inhibition, and updating of verbal and numerical materials were administered individually. Results showed that compared with the TD group, children with MD exhibited storage and inhibition deficits specific to numerical information and dual-task deficits of both verbal and numerical information, whereas children with MDRD showed extensive deficits on phonological storage and executive functions on both verbal and numerical tasks. Moreover, executive function deficits were not confined to phonological storage deficits. Implications of the findings for the working memory deficit profile and working memory training among children with mathematics difficulties were discussed.
AB - Children with mathematics difficulties suffer from working memory deficits. This study investigated the deficit profile of phonological storage and executive functions in working memory among children with mathematics difficulties. Based on multiple instruments and two assessment points, 68 children were screened out of 805 fifth graders. Of these 68 children, 18 were classified as children with only mathematics difficulties (MD), 20 were classified as children with mathematics and reading difficulties (MDRD), and 30 were typically developing (TD) peers matched on age and general ability. Measures for phonological storage, dual-task performance, inhibition, and updating of verbal and numerical materials were administered individually. Results showed that compared with the TD group, children with MD exhibited storage and inhibition deficits specific to numerical information and dual-task deficits of both verbal and numerical information, whereas children with MDRD showed extensive deficits on phonological storage and executive functions on both verbal and numerical tasks. Moreover, executive function deficits were not confined to phonological storage deficits. Implications of the findings for the working memory deficit profile and working memory training among children with mathematics difficulties were discussed.
KW - Executive functions
KW - Mathematics difficulties
KW - Numerical
KW - Phonological storage
KW - Verbal
KW - Working memory
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84862182063&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84862182063&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jecp.2012.04.004
DO - 10.1016/j.jecp.2012.04.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 22633135
AN - SCOPUS:84862182063
SN - 0022-0965
VL - 112
SP - 452
EP - 466
JO - Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
JF - Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
IS - 4
ER -