Executive Functioning as a Predictor of Children's Mathematics Ability: Inhibition, Switching, and Working Memory

“…a study examining mathematics ability in children in the first grade, at age 7 years, independent effects were reported for inhibitory control, attention shifting , and working memory aspects of executive function, with the most robust relation being that for working memory (Bull & Scerif, 2001).”

“…executive functioning and children’s early emerging and developing mathematical skills across a wide age range (e.g., Bull, Johnston, & Roy, 1999; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Espy, McDiarmid, Cwik, Stalets, Hamby, & Senn, 2004; Gathercole & Pickering, 2000; Gathercole et al., 2004; McLean & Hitch,…”

“…attention, working memory, and inhibitory control are each important for school performance and adaptation (Alexander et al., 1993; Blair, 2002; Bull & Scerif, 2001; McClelland et al., 2006; National Institute of Child Health & Human Development [NICHD] Early Child Care Research Network, 2003).”

“…on inhibition and working memory tasks, in particular, consistently relates to performance in mathematics and reading (Blair & Razza, 2007; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Protopapas, Archonti, & Skaloumbakas, 2007; St. Clair-Thompson & Gathercole, 2006; van der Schoot, Licht, Horsley, & Sergeant,…”

“Working memory is also linked to math outcomes; low working memory scores are closely related to poor performance on arithmetic word problems (Swanson & Sachse-Lee, 2001) and poor computational skills (Bull & Scerif, 2001; Geary, Hoard, & Hamson, 1999).”

“The results are consistent with findings of independent contributions of discrete executive functions to children’s attainment in mathematics (Bull & Scerif, 2001) and extend these findings to standardized assessments in English, mathematics, and science.”

“Similarly, Bull and Scerif (2001) found that 7-year-olds with lower math ability showed poorer inhibition (indicated by greater Stroop interference), difficulty switching from a learned strategy to a new strategy (indicated by increased perseverative responses on the WCST; see also Bull, Johnston,…”

“It has also been found that children with poor mathematical abilities show deficits in complex working memory span tasks (Bull & Scerif, 2001; Mayringer & Wimmer, 2000; Siegel & Ryan, 1989).”

“…superiority likely arises because the skills required by tasks like the HTKS (attentional focusing, working memory, and inhibitory control) also help children perform well scholastically and on academic classroom tasks (Bull & Scerif, 2001; Howse, Calkins, et al., 2003; McClelland et al., 2000).”

“Bull and Scerif (2001) found that tasks assessing inhibitory control of attention and attention set shifting (in addition to working memory ) made independent contributions to math achievement for first-grade children.”

“…for early mathematical ability, as several studies have shown predictive relations between working memory, inhibitory control, and attention shifting measures of EF and math skill acquisition in preschool and the early elementary grades (Blair & Razza, 2007; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Espy et al., 2004).”

“Each is associated with language and math skills among preschool-aged children (Blair & Razza, 2007; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Diamond, Carlson, & Beck, 2005; Gathercole & Pickering, 2000).”

“…suggested that specific activities of the central executive related to suppression of irrelevant information and resource monitoring are deficient in children with math and/or reading disabilities (Bull & Scerif, 2001; Chiappe et al., 2000; Passolunghi, Cornoldi, & De Liberto, 1999; Swanson, 1999).”

“Links have been found between these working memory abilities and attainments in the areas of reading (e.g., De Jong, 1998; Swanson, 1994), mathematics (e.g., Bull & Scerif, 2001; * Corresponding author.”

“…as mathematical word problems, across a range of different age groups (Agostino, Johnson, & Pascual- Leone, 2010; Andersson, 2007, 2008; Berg, 2008; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Campos, Almeida, Ferreira, Martinez, & Ramalho, 2012; Hecht, Close, & Santisi, 2003; Kroesbergen et al., 2009; Lee, Ng, Ng, &…”

“Additional covariates included measures of lexical retrieval speed (Willburger, Fussenegger, Moll, Wood, & Landerl, 2008), visual perceptual skills (Mazzocco, Bhatia, & Lesniak-Karpiak, 2006), memory, working memory, and spatial memory (e.g., Bull & Scerif, 2001).”

“…2004; Savage, Cornish, Manly, & Hollis, 2006) and later language and math achievement (Barrouillet & Lepine, 2005; Blair & Razza, 2007; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Espy et al., 2004; Gathercole et al., 2004; Passolunghi, Vercelloni, & Schadee, 2007; Swanson & Kim, 2007) depend heavily on working…”

“Several investigators (Bull & Scerif, 2001; Gathercole & Pickering, 2000; McLean & Hitch, 1999) have noted the role of WM in mathematics in older school-age children.”

“…skills are characteristic of children failing to progress normally in the areas of reading (e.g., De Jong, 1998; Swanson, 1994), mathematics (e.g., Bull & Scerif, 2001; Mayringer & Wimmer, 2000; Passolunghi & Siegel, 2001; Siegel & Ryan, 1989), and language comprehension (e.g., Nation, Adams,…”

“We also expected that the HTKS and measures of EF would be especially predictive of growth in early mathematics skills (Bull and Scerif, 2001; Cameron Ponitz et al., 2009; Bull et al., 2011).”

“For example, in a study examining math ability in first graders, independent effects were reported for inhibition, attention shifting, and working memory aspects of EF, with the most robust relation being that for working memory (Bull & Scerif, 2001).”

“For example, Bull and Scerif (2001) demonstrated that measures of the shifting and working memory aspects of EF were uniquely associated with math achievement at the end of first grade.”

“Clark et al. (2010) for instance found that the Flexible Item Selection Task showed robust correlations with later achievement scores whereas the Shape School-Switch Condition demonstrated no association with achievement in preschool children after controlling for verbal intelligence, working memory and inhibition.”

“These acute exercise-induced enhancements in response production and neurocognitive function also may have relevance for maximizing scholastic performance in all children, as evidenced by the exerciseinduced improvements in the areas of reading comprehension and arithmetic—subjects that have been found to depend heavi…”

“In addition, tasks with interference suppression demands have been shown to be strongly related to mathematical development (e.g., Bull and Scerif, 2011; Espy et al., 2004; Blair and Razza, 2007; Swanson, 2011; Marzocchi et al., 2002).”

“…2004), and numerous studies have documented an association between executive function and achievement in both reading and mathematics (e.g., Alloway, Banner, & Smith, 2010; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Clark, Pritchard, & Woodward, 2010; Espy et al., 2004; Gathercole, Pickering, Knight, & Stegmann, 2004).”

“…Swanson, & Reiser, 2008), and grade point average (Liew, McTigue, Barrois, & Hughes, 2008; Zhou et al., 2010) EF has been positively related to academic achievement and school readiness (e.g., Blair, 2002; Blair, Granger, & Razza, 2005; Blair & Razza, 2007; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Espy et al., 2004)”

“…of these skills under the categories of cognitive self-regulation, self-discipline, effortful control, or executive function (Blair and Diamond, 2008; Blair and Razza, 2007; Bull and Scerif, 2001; Bull et al., 2008; Duckworth and Seligman, 2005; Duncan et al., 2007; Clair-Thompson et al., 2006).”

“…Kirkwood, & Elliott, 2009; Pickering, 2006; Rapport, Scanlan, & Denney, 1999), as for example, to mathematical skills (e.g., Alloway et al., 2005; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Gathercole, 1999; Mayringer & Wimmer, 2000; McLean & Hitch, 1999; Passolunghi & Siegel, 2001; Siegal & Ryan, 1989), but also to…”

“…to restructure knowledge and information based on changing situational demands (Diamond, 2006), and there is a lack of consensus regarding the functional role of this cognitive process in academic achievement (Bull & Scerif, 2001; DeStefano & LeFevre, 2004; St. Clair-Thompson & Gathercole, 2006).”

“…is concurrently associated with difficulties in reading (e.g., Christopher et al., 2012; de Jong et al., 2009), mathematics (e.g., Andersson, 2008; Bull & Scerif, 2001), and language (e.g., Lonigan et al., 2016; McClelland et al., 2007), and it is longitudinally predictive of academic…”

“strength of the correlations between TEMA-2 performance and either rapid naming or DTPV-2 performance was comparable to the correlation reported by Bull and Scerif (2001) between math performance and executive function skills.”

“…efficiency (i.e. smaller conflict scores) show higher levels of competence at school, understanding competence as a combination of school achievement and adequate socio-emotional adjustment in the classroom (Blair and Razza, 2007; Bull and Scerif, 2001; Checa et al., 2008; Rueda et al., 2010).”

“The WCST has been used as a measure of set-shifting and executive function in typically developing children (Arffa, Lovell, Podell, & Goldberg, 1998; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Chelune & Baer, 1986; Levin et al., 1991; Somsen, in press; Welsh, Pennington, & Groisser, 1991) and performance is thought to…”

“…appears to be more strongly related to math than reading achievement, which is interesting given the presumed involvement of the prefrontal cortex in both solving math problems and completing inhibitory control tasks (Blair & Razza, 2007; Bull et al., 2008; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Espy et al., 2004).”

“…found to be related to whole number arithmetic; moreover, children with LA tend to exhibit executive functioning deficits relative to typically achieving peers (Bull & Scerif, 2001; Mazzocco & This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.”

“Our findings support that working memory contributes to both concurrent (Bull & Scerif, 2001) and emerging (Espy et al., 2004) mathematics skills.”

“…executive ability (such as operation or listening span) have also been associated with children’s mathematics (e.g., Bull, Johnston, & Roy, 1999; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Gathercole & Pickering, 2000a, 2000b; Hitch & McAuley, 1991; Jarvis & Gathercole, 2003; Maybery & Do, 2003; Wilson & Swanson,…”

“For instance, inhibition, task switching, and working memory have been implicated as predictive of concurrent math ability in primary school-age children ( Bull & Scerif, 2001 ); and working memory is deficient in children with MLD (Geary, 2004; Kaufmann, 2002; McLean & Hitch, 1999).”

“…relationships between tasks measuring executive functions and (preparatory) maths skills (e.g., Barouillet & Lépine, 2005; Blair & Razza, 2007; Bull & Scerif, 2001; D’Amico & Guarnera, 2005; Espy et al., 2004; Gathercole & Pickering, 2000; Geary, Hoard, Byrd-Craven, & DeSoto, 2004; Van der…”

“Although weak or at most moderate correlations among the components are consistently found in the literature (Bull & Scerif, 2001; Carlson, Moses, & Breton, 2002; Senn, Espy, & Kaufmann, 2004; St. Clair-Thompson & Gathercole, 2006), in most studies those disappear after controlling for age and…”

“Early research focused on general cognitive functions such as working memory (e.g., Bull & Scerif, 2001), visuospatial attention (Rourke, 1993; Rourke & Conway, 1997), and retrieval of information from long-term memory (Geary, Hamson, & 0010-0277/$ - see front matter 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V.…”

“This is in line with previous research (Bull & Scerif, 2001; Sz}ucs et al., 2013) and provides evidence in support of the proposal that there are multiple domainspecific inhibitory control systems, rather than a single inhibitory system which applies across all domains (Egner, 2008).”

“In addition, Bull and Scerif (2001) found a relationship only between mathematics and an inhibition task in which numerical contents were present and no such relationship between mathematics and the regular Stroop task, in which the name of a color is printed in a not-denoted color that has to be…”

“…2003; Gerardi-Caulton, 2000), social–emotional development (Carlson, Mandell, & Williams, 2004; Hughes & Ensor, 2007), academic ability (Blair & Razza, 2007; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Diamond, Barnett, Thomas, & Munro, 2007), and general intelligence and verbal ability (Carlson, Moses, & Breton, 2002).”

“as working memory capacity and executive function (Bull and Scerif 2001).”

“Similarly, Bull and Scerif (2001) found that 7-year-old children with poor mathematics scores had poor inhibition and poor working memory scores.”

“Our study results are consistent with the literature that showed poor working memory as a predictor of mathematics achievement (Bull and Scerif, 2001; Bull et al., 2008; Geary et al., 2004).”

“…literacy (e.g., De Jong, 1998; Gathercole & Pickering, 2000; Gathercole, Pickering, Knight, & Stegmann, 2004b; Swanson, 1994), mathematics (e.g., Bull & Scerif, 2001; Gathercole & Pickering, 2000; Gathercole et al., 2004b; Mayringer & Wimmer, 2000; Siegel & Ryan, 1989), and language…”

“…positive relationships of mathematical performance with various cognitive measures of working memory, speed of processing, and EF (see, e.g. Bull & Scerif, 2001; Gathercole & Pickering, 2000; Geary, 2004; Kail & Hall, 1999; Lee, Ng, & Ng, 2009; Lee, Ng, Ng, & Lim, 2004; Lehto, 1995;…”

“…attainment has been associated with attention and executive functions (Assel, Landry, Swank, Smith, & Steelman, 2003; Bull, Espy, & Wiebe, 2008; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Marlow et al., 2007; St Clair-Thompson & Gathercole, 2006), visuospatial skills (Assel et al., 2003; Rickards, Kelly, Doyle, &…”

“…memory has been studied predominantly by means of correlations between working memory measures (e.g., counting span, Trails task, Stroop task) and simple arithmetic performance (e.g., Bull & Johnston, 1997; Bull et al., 1999; Bull & Scerif, 2001; McLean & Hitch, 1999; Passolunghi & Siegel, 2001).”

“…eVective predictors of performance in many complex cognitive activities including reading (e.g., Swanson, 1994; De Jong, 1998), mathematics (e.g., Bull & Scerif, 2001; Mayringer & Wimmer, 2000; Siegel & Ryan, 1989), and language comprehension (e.g., Nation, Adams, Bowyer-Crane, & Snowling, 1999;…”