The influence of memory updating and number sense on junior high school math attainment

Miao Hsuan Yen; Cheng Ching Han; Pei Chi Yu; Tsung Han Yang; Daniele Didino; Brian Butterworth; Nai Shing Yen

doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2017.01.012

The influence of memory updating and number sense on junior high school math attainment

Miao Hsuan Yen, Cheng Ching Han, Pei Chi Yu, Tsung Han Yang, Daniele Didino, Brian Butterworth, Nai Shing Yen^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Graduate Institute of Science Education

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The present study investigated the development and influence of working memory abilities (WM) and number sense (NS) on mathematics achievement in junior high school students (grades 7–9, N = 267). Math achievement was measured by three sectional examinations in a semester, NS was indicated by an approximate numerosity system task, and WM was assessed by a battery of four tasks. Developmental trends in both WM and NS task scores were observed. Memory updating (MU) in the WM tasks was found to be dominant in predicting math achievement in correlation and regression analyses. A similar pattern was observed for separate analyses across grade levels, except that in grade 7 a significant unique contribution of NS to math was observed after taking MU into account. The findings suggest that WM ability (especially that used in MU task) had greater influence on math achievement than NS.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	30-40
Number of pages	11
Journal	Learning and Individual Differences
Volume	54
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2017.01.012
Publication status	Published - 2017 Feb 1

Keywords

Approximate numerosity system
Mathematics achievement
Memory updating task
Number sense
Working memory

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Psychology
Education
Developmental and Educational Psychology

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10.1016/j.lindif.2017.01.012

Cite this

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title = "The influence of memory updating and number sense on junior high school math attainment",

abstract = "The present study investigated the development and influence of working memory abilities (WM) and number sense (NS) on mathematics achievement in junior high school students (grades 7–9, N = 267). Math achievement was measured by three sectional examinations in a semester, NS was indicated by an approximate numerosity system task, and WM was assessed by a battery of four tasks. Developmental trends in both WM and NS task scores were observed. Memory updating (MU) in the WM tasks was found to be dominant in predicting math achievement in correlation and regression analyses. A similar pattern was observed for separate analyses across grade levels, except that in grade 7 a significant unique contribution of NS to math was observed after taking MU into account. The findings suggest that WM ability (especially that used in MU task) had greater influence on math achievement than NS.",

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AU - Yen, Miao Hsuan

AU - Han, Cheng Ching

AU - Yu, Pei Chi

AU - Yang, Tsung Han

AU - Didino, Daniele

AU - Butterworth, Brian

AU - Yen, Nai Shing

PY - 2017/2/1

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N2 - The present study investigated the development and influence of working memory abilities (WM) and number sense (NS) on mathematics achievement in junior high school students (grades 7–9, N = 267). Math achievement was measured by three sectional examinations in a semester, NS was indicated by an approximate numerosity system task, and WM was assessed by a battery of four tasks. Developmental trends in both WM and NS task scores were observed. Memory updating (MU) in the WM tasks was found to be dominant in predicting math achievement in correlation and regression analyses. A similar pattern was observed for separate analyses across grade levels, except that in grade 7 a significant unique contribution of NS to math was observed after taking MU into account. The findings suggest that WM ability (especially that used in MU task) had greater influence on math achievement than NS.

AB - The present study investigated the development and influence of working memory abilities (WM) and number sense (NS) on mathematics achievement in junior high school students (grades 7–9, N = 267). Math achievement was measured by three sectional examinations in a semester, NS was indicated by an approximate numerosity system task, and WM was assessed by a battery of four tasks. Developmental trends in both WM and NS task scores were observed. Memory updating (MU) in the WM tasks was found to be dominant in predicting math achievement in correlation and regression analyses. A similar pattern was observed for separate analyses across grade levels, except that in grade 7 a significant unique contribution of NS to math was observed after taking MU into account. The findings suggest that WM ability (especially that used in MU task) had greater influence on math achievement than NS.

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KW - Memory updating task

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The influence of memory updating and number sense on junior high school math attainment

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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