Determining the contributions of executive functioning to mathematical skills
department or school: Education, Faculty of
department or school: Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Morton, Marley
issued: 2018-10-18T20:10:34Z
issued: 2018
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: The importance of executive functioning (EF) skills in general mathematical achievement has been well established. However, a deeper understanding about the degree to which distinct EF skills uniquely contribute to not just math as a whole, but to individual mathematical abilities is needed. The present study assessed the unique contributions of EF skills (working memory, inhibition, and shifting) to performance on math fluency, calculation, and problem solving tasks. A secondary goal of this study was to investigate whether performance based tests or parental ratings of EF better predict mathematical performance for each mathematical subskill. Participants were individually administered tests of EF and mathematics and parents completed an EF rating scale. A hierarchical multiple regression was conducted for each mathematic subskill, including lower level math skills in the first block and either performance-based or parent ratings of EF in the second block. Results show a strong relationship between verbal working memory and math fluency, calculation, and problem solving over and above lower level math skills. Math fluency had a significant relationship with calculation, but only calculation was related to problem solving. Performance based measures of EF were superior to parental ratings in terms of their relationship with calculation and problem solving. These findings have implications for our understanding of how EF skills may contribute to math achievement, which can inform early identification and provision of accommodations that will better support mathematical success and the remediation of math difficulties. Furthermore, the findings have implications for the validity of performance based and parental ratings of EF for identifying skills related to math. Lastly, the findings highlight the importance of lower level math skills in calculation and problem solving, which reiterates the importance of the mastery of prerequisite skills as well as areas of target…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/67616
note: DETERMINING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING TO MATHEMATICAL SKILLS by Marley Morton B.A. (Hons), University of Guelph, 2013 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (School Psychology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) October 2018 © Marley Morton, 2018 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, a thesis/dissertation entitled: Determining the Contributions of Executive Functioning to Mathematical Skills submitted by Marley Morton in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in School Psychology Examining Committee: Dr. Sterett Mercer Supervisor Dr. Rachel Weber Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Ann Anderson Supervisory Committee Member Additional Examiner Additional Supervisory Committee Members: Supervisory Committee Member Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract The importance of executive functioning (EF) skills in general mathematical achievement has been well established. However, a deeper understanding about the degree to which distinct EF skills uniquely contribute to not just math as a whole, but to individual mathematical abilities is needed. The present study assessed the unique contributions of EF skills (working memory, inhibition, and shifting) to performance on math fluency, calculation, and problem solving tasks. A secondary goal of this study was to investigate whether performance based tests or parental ratings of EF better predict mathematical performance for each mathematical subskill. Participants were individually administered tests of EF and mathematics and parents completed an EF rating scale. A hierarchical multiple regression was conducted for each mathematic subskill, including lower level math skills in the first block and either performance-based or parent ratings of EF in the second …
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2018-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0372892
language: eng
degree discipline: School Psychology
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/67616