The correlation between dot comparison performance and children's mathematics achievement is driven by incongruent, not congruent, trials¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr2·q3·i3large
Currency · newest study 2013 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
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q3 i3 In Experiment 1, performance on incongruent dot comparison trials correlated strongly with mathematics achievement (r = .55) while congruent trials did not (r = .03), and the two correlations differed significantly. → Gilmore C 2013
Evidence¶
Gilmore C 2013¶
Gilmore C, Attridge N, Clayton S, Cragg L, Johnson S, Marlow N, Simms V, Inglis M. (2013). Individual Differences in Inhibitory Control, Not Non-Verbal Number Acuity, Correlate with Mathematics Achievement. PLoS ONE 8(6): e67374. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0067374
q3 · i3 · associational · r2
Experiment 1 correlational analysis with 80 children aged 4.7-11.9 years completing a dot comparison task and the Woodcock-Johnson III calculation subtest. The incongruent-trial correlation ("r = .55, p < .001") differed from congruent trials (Williams-Steiger t(77) = 3.34, p = .001).
"Performance on the incongruent trials of the dot comparison task was strongly related to mathematics achievement ( r = .55, p < .001) but performance on the congruent trials was not ( r = .03, p = .80)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Reanalysis of previously-published data replicates the incongruent-trial pattern in children, with a marginal effect in adults — related
- Incongruent dot comparison trials are less accurate and slower than congruent trials, consistent with an added inhibition step — related
- Incongruent items in school-topic tasks are generally associated with longer response times and lower accuracy, patterns consistent with inhibitory control recruitment — related
- Smaller response-time differences between incongruent and congruent trials (better inhibition) correlate with higher mathematics scores — related
- The association between nonsymbolic magnitude comparison and multiplication facts is similar across trial types (OTS/ANS range and congruency), and the symbolic comparison association is similar across numerical distances — reports the opposite
- Interference suppression, but not response inhibition, relates to academic achievement and schooling skills — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
dot-comparison-math-link-driven-by-incongruent-trials |
title |
The correlation between dot comparison performance and children's mathematics achievement is driven by incongruent, not congruent, trials |
description |
The correlation between dot comparison performance and children's mathematics achievement is driven by incongruent, not congruent, trials |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2013 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-16 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — gilmore-c-2013 |
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