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Working memory predictors of mathematics across the middle primary school years

Allen, K.; Giofrè, D.; Higgins, S.; Adams, J.

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Authors

D. Giofrè

J. Adams



Abstract

Background: Work surrounding the relationship between visuospatial working memory (WM) and mathematics performance is gaining significant traction as a result of a focus on improving academic attainment. Aims: This study examined the relative contributions of verbal and visuospatial simple and complex WM measures to mathematics in primary school children aged 6–10 years. Sample: A sample of 111 children in years 2–5 were assessed (Mage = 100.06 months, SD = 14.47). Method: Children were tested individually on all memory measures, followed by a separate mathematics testing session as a class group in the same assessment wave. Results and Conclusions: Results revealed an age‐dependent relationship, with a move towards visuospatial influence in older children. Further analyses demonstrated that backward word span and backward matrices contributed unique portions of variance of mathematics, regardless of the regression model specified. We discuss possible explanations for our preliminary findings in relation to the existing literature alongside their implications for educators and further research.

Citation

Allen, K., Giofrè, D., Higgins, S., & Adams, J. (2020). Working memory predictors of mathematics across the middle primary school years. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(3), 848-869. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12339

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 9, 2020
Online Publication Date Jan 30, 2020
Publication Date 2020-09
Deposit Date Jan 29, 2020
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal British Journal of Educational Psychology
Print ISSN 0007-0998
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 90
Issue 3
Pages 848-869
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12339

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
Advance online version © 2020 The Authors. British Journal of Educational Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.






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