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The first year in formal schooling improves working memory and academic abilities.

ABSTRACT: Neurocognition and academic abilities during the period of 4 and 7 years of age are impacted by both the transition from kindergarten to primary school and age-related developmental processes. Here, we used a school cut-off design to tease apart the impact of formal schooling from age, on working memory (WM) function, vocabulary, and numeracy scores. We compared two groups of children with similar age, across two years: first-graders (FG), who were enrolled into primary school the year that they became eligible and kindergarteners (KG), who were deferred school entry until the following year. All children completed a change detection task while brain activation was recorded using portable functional near-infrared spectroscopy, a vocabulary assessment, and a numeracy screener. Our results revealed that FG children showed greater improvement in WM performance and greater engagement of a left-lateralized fronto-parietal network compared to KG children. Further, they also showed higher gains in vocabulary and non-symbolic numeracy scores. This improvement in vocabulary and non-symbolic numeracy scores following a year in primary school was predicted by WM function. Our findings contribute to a growing body of literature examining neurocognitive and academic benefits conferred to children following exposure to formal schooling.

SUBMITTER: Davidson C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9898018 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The first year in formal schooling improves working memory and academic abilities.

Davidson Christina C Shing Yee Lee YL McKay Courtney C Rafetseder Eva E Wijeakumar Sobanawartiny S

Developmental cognitive neuroscience 20230129

Neurocognition and academic abilities during the period of 4 and 7 years of age are impacted by both the transition from kindergarten to primary school and age-related developmental processes. Here, we used a school cut-off design to tease apart the impact of formal schooling from age, on working memory (WM) function, vocabulary, and numeracy scores. We compared two groups of children with similar age, across two years: first-graders (FG), who were enrolled into primary school the year that they ...[more]

PMID: 36724671

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Project description:BackgroundThe current evidence on an integrative role of the domain-specific early mathematical skills and number-specific executive functions (EFs) from informal to formal schooling and their effect on mathematical abilities is so far unclear. The main objectives of this study were to (i) compare the domain-specific early mathematics, the number-specific EFs, and the mathematical abilities between preschool and primary school children, and (ii) examine the relationship among the domain-specific early mathematics, the number-specific EFs, and the mathematical abilities among preschool and primary school children.MethodsThe current study recruited 6- and 7-year-old children (Ntotal = 505, n6yrs = 238, and n7yrs = 267). The domain-specific early mathematics as measured by symbolic and nonsymbolic tasks, number-specific EFs tasks, and mathematics tasks between these preschool and primary school children were compared. The relationship among domain-specific early mathematics, number-specific EFs, and mathematical abilities among preschool and primary school children was examined. MANOVA and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to test research hypotheses.ResultsThe current results showed using MANOVA that primary school children were superior to preschool children over more complex tests of the domain-specific early mathematics; number-specific EFs; mathematical abilities, particularly for more sophisticated numerical knowledge; and number-specific EF components. The SEM revealed that both the domain-specific early numerical and the number-specific EFs significantly related to the mathematical abilities across age groups. Nevertheless, the number comparison test and mental number line of the domain-specific early mathematics significantly correlated with the mathematical abilities of formal school children. These results show the benefits of both the domain-specific early mathematics and the number-specific EFs in mathematical development, especially at the key stages of formal schooling. Understanding the relationship between EFs and early mathematics in improving mathematical achievements could allow a more powerful approach in improving mathematical education at this developmental stage.

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The first year in formal schooling improves working memory and academic abilities.

Publications

The first year in formal schooling improves working memory and academic abilities.

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