How do children develop associations among number symbols? For Grade 1 children (n = 66, M = 78 months), sequence knowledge (i.e., identify missing numbers) and number comparison (i.e., choose larger number) predicted addition, both concurrently and indirectly at the end of Grade 1. Number ordering (i.e., touch numbers in order) did not predict…

The serial advantage, defined as the gain in naming rate in the serial over the discrete task of the same content, was examined between grades and types of content in English and Greek. 720 English- and Greek-speaking children from Grades 1, 3, and 5 were tested in rapid naming and reading tasks of different content, including digits, objects,…

"Patterning" is a cognitive intervention that is unknown to psychologists, but has nevertheless been taught for half a century in nearly all kindergartens and many preschools in English-speaking countries. Patterning is the understanding that a certain rule governs the sequence of items in a series. At the simplest level, if the series…

Digit comparison is strongly related to individual differences in children's arithmetic ability. Why this is the case, however, remains unclear to date. Therefore, we investigated the relative contribution of three possible cognitive mechanisms in first and second graders' digit comparison performance: digit identification, digit--number word…

Recent theories of short-term memory (STM) distinguish between item information, which reflects the temporary activation of long-term representations stored in the language system, and serial-order information, which is encoded in a specific representational system that is independent of the language network. Some studies examining the…

Previous research stresses the importance of seriation, classification, and counting abilities that should be assessed in kindergarten, when looking for crucial predictors of mathematical learning disabilities in Grade 1. This study examines (n = 158) two-year-long predictive relationships between children's seriation, classification, procedural…

Linear measurement is more than just learning how to use a ruler. In the early grades, measurement activities develop students' understanding of the properties of objects as well as what it means to measure objects. Hands-on activities can enable students to explore such measurable properties as height and length, and direct comparisons of various…

Seven-year-olds who had difficulty understanding 1st-grade work received one of two forms of small-group instruction. Half of the children were randomly assigned to receive four months of instruction in recognizing, comprehending, and reproducing both logical and arbitrary patterns (sequences) involving numbers, letters, shapes, colors,…