Patterning, Reading, and Executive Functions.

Detecting a pattern within a sequence of ordered units, defined as patterning, is a cognitive ability that is important in learning mathematics and influential in learning to read. The present study was designed to examine relations between first-grade children's executive functions, patterning, and reading abilities, and to examine whether these relations differ by the type of pattern. The results showed that working memory correlated with reading fluency, and comprehension measures. Inhibition correlated only with the latter. Cognitive flexibility was correlated with patterning performance and with performance on object size patterns, whereas working memory was correlated with performance on symmetrical patterns and growing number patterns. These results suggest that the cognition required for completing patterns differs depending on the pattern type. Teachers may find it beneficial to place emphasis on the switching and working memory components of completing patterning tasks, depending on the type of patterns used in instruction.

The Relations Between Patterning, Executive Function, and Mathematics.

Patterning, or the ability to understand patterns, is a skill commonly taught to young children as part of school mathematics curricula. It seems likely that some aspects of executive function, such as cognitive flexibility, inhibition, and working memory, may be expressed in the patterning abilities of children. The primary objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between patterning and executive functioning for first grade children. In addition, the relations between patterning, executive functioning, mathematics, and reading were examined. The results showed that patterning was significantly related to cognitive flexibility and working memory, but not to inhibition. Patterning, cognitive flexibility, and working memory were significantly related to mathematical skills. Only patterning and working memory were significantly related to reading. Regression analyses and structural equation modeling both showed that patterning had effects on both reading and mathematics measures, and that the effects of cognitive flexibility were entirely mediated by patterning. Working memory had independent effects on reading and mathematics, and also effects moderated by patterning. In sum, these findings suggest that cognitive flexibility and working memory are related to patterning and express their effects on reading and mathematics in whole or in part through patterning.

Response to stimulus relations by a dog (Canis lupus familiaris).

A malamute-husky mixed-breed dog was trained to distinguish one object that differed from three others that were identical to each other. The dog progressed rapidly after an effective shaping procedure, requiring 37 training sessions to master 20 such problems to a criterion of 90 %. The dog subsequently scored 80 % correct on the first trials with new problems that required a reversal of previously correct choices. The dog then scored 70 % correct on his first trials with 20 new problems composed of entirely new objects. Both performances are far above chance. Consequently, we conclude that choosing the odd or least numerous object in a group is within the capacity of the domestic dog.

Abstracting Sequences: Reasoning That Is a Key to Academic Achievement.

The ability to understand sequences of items may be an important cognitive ability. To test this proposition, 8 first-grade children from each of 36 classes were randomly assigned to four conditions. Some were taught sequences that represented increasing or decreasing values, or were symmetrical, or were rotations of an object through 6 or 8 positions. Control children received equal numbers of sessions on mathematics, reading, or social studies. Instruction was conducted three times weekly in 15-min sessions for seven months. In May, the children taught sequences applied their understanding to novel sequences, and scored as well or better on three standardized reading tests as the control children. They outscored all children on tests of mathematics concepts, and scored better than control children on some mathematics scales. These findings indicate that developing an understanding of sequences is a form of abstraction, probably involving fluid reasoning, that provides a foundation for academic achievement in early education.

Object and size awareness in preschool-age children.

Self-awareness is a skill developed during the first few years of life. Although some research demonstrates that this ability may be incomplete in toddlers, there is little to no literature relating to preschoolers. This study tested 44 preschool-age children on 8 tasks to assess their awareness of the structural characteristics of their own size and weight as well as the size and weight of external objects. The most frequently observed behavior was for children to make an attempt at something that was inappropriate for their size and weight, but overall participants showed a better understanding of their own bodies than other objects. Both the number of attempts required to solve the problems and accuracy of their solutions demonstrated these task differences. These results indicate that the development of body awareness skills is far from complete for 3- and 4-year-olds.

Preschoolers' knowledge about the appearance of proper names.

Preschoolers' knowledge of the appearance of proper names was tested in three experiments with 25 boys and 22 girls from low-income families. Children from a Head Start program, whose parents signed a permission letter, participated. Their ages ranged from 3 yr. 6 mo. to 5 yr. 6 mo. (M = 52.2 mo., SD = 4.9). When shown consonant-vowel-consonant trigrams such as Rit or baF or dEg with various capitalization patterns, the children showed a tendency to recognize that CVC trigrams with the first letter capitalized or all letters capitalized were the ones most likely to represent a person's name. When their own names were substituted, which typically contained more than three letters, their performance was markedly better. Children also had a strong tendency to consider trigrams of Latin letters as more likely to be a person's name than trigrams of non-Latin characters (e.g., Sanskrit).

Using developmental principles to assist preschoolers in developing numeracy and literacy.

In a yoked control design, 4-yr.-olds (N = 39) in a Head Start program played numerous structured games involving either the oddity principle or letter identification and letter sounds. The children's mean age was 53.2 mo.; SD = 4.1 mo. Three were Middle Eastern, 14 were Latino, 7 were East African, and 15 were African American. Children showed better mastery of oddity after playing games directed at this concept, and numeracy scores on the Woodcock-Johnson III were better for children who had played this type of game. Woodcock-Johnson III Letter-Word scores for children who had played the oddity and seriation or letter games were equivalent. These results are consistent with other research indicating that the understanding of oddity relations may be a key transitional thinking which supports quantitative and verbal development at the preschool-kindergarten interface. The standardized test scores indicate that guided play directed at this aspect of cognitive growth or more narrowly directed at early literacy can produce equivalent knowledge of letters.

Enhancing academic performance by strengthening class-inclusion reasoning.

Class inclusion is an early form of abstract thought that requires logical rather than perceptually based inferences plus an appreciation of part-whole relationships (B. Inhelder and J. Piaget, 1959/1964). The authors randomly assigned 2 groups of first graders who were having academic difficulties to be instructed on either class inclusion or phonics. Results showed a significant linear relation between individual children's mastery of class inclusion and their scores on the Cognitive Abilities Test Form 6 (D. F. Lohman and E. P. Hagen, 2001) verbal and quantitative measures of reasoning. The authors also found a significant linear relation between mastery of class inclusion and improvement in report card marks issued by teachers who were blind to the children's group assignment.

Applying principles of development to help at-risk preschoolers develop numeracy.

In a yoked control design, multicultural Head Start 4-year-olds played numerous games involving either numeracy or the oddity principle and insertions into series. Children showed better mastery of oddity and insertions after playing games directed at those two concepts. Numeracy scores on the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (D. McCarthy, 1972) were equivalent for children who played numeracy games and children who played oddity and insertion games. These results are consistent with other research indicating that the understanding of oddity relations and that of insertions are key transitional thinking abilities that support numeracy at the preschool-kindergarten interface.

Mastery of number conservation by a man with severe cognitive disabilities.

An autistic 21-yr.-old with a mental age of four years was taught number conservation. Mastery of this concept requires concrete operational thought and has not been thought to be possible for persons with severe disabilities. A learning set of 105 problems was used to promote generalization, and a "fade-out" procedure was used to make mastery of the problems as easy as possible. Combination of these techniques produced the first recorded success in teaching number conservation to a person with severe disabilities. This demonstration that one individual can perform at this cognitive level opens the door to research to determine the generality and limits of the potential of other individuals with severe cognitive disabilities.

Hierarchical categorization by bilingual Latino children: does a basic-level bias exist?

Research has shown that children classify most easily at the basic level where objects in the same category look similar enough to each other to be grouped together but are distinct enough from objects in other categories to be discriminated (e.g., animal/bird/duck). In this article, the authors report on 2 experiments they conducted to determine whether children maintain this basic category bias when the perceptual similarity of stimuli at different hierarchical levels is equalized. Pictures within and across 3 hierarchical levels were made perceptually equivalent and shown to 71 Latino children who were bilingual in Spanish and English. In Experiment 1, the pictures used as exemplars could be categorized on any of the 3 hierarchical levels. In Experiment 2, example pictures unambiguously defined the level of categorization that would be accurate, and linguistic cues were given that might assist in the selection of the correct category. In both experiments, the children sorted pictures from all 3 levels equally well, but they found it harder to justify their sorting of superordinate pictures. English competence predicted sorting on the more ambiguous sorting task in Experiment 1; and English competence predicted verbal justifications in both experiments, even though the experiments were conducted in Spanish. Competence in Spanish or English was an equally good predictor of sorting in the better defined sorting task in Experiment 2. These findings indicate that a superordinate level deficiency remains after perceptual differences are eliminated and that the deficiency is cognitive in nature. Differences in the performances of children who differed in bilingualism support the hypothesis that a threshold of proficiency in both languages is an important determinant of the effect of bilingualism on categorization.