Executive function measures predict early mathematics achievement over and above reading ability and IQ¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · reviewr3·q2
Currency · newest study 2015 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Working memory and flexible shifting of attention independently predict early mathematics achievement beyond reading ability and IQ. → Blair 2015
Evidence¶
Blair 2015¶
Blair, Clancy & Raver, C. Cybele. (2015). School Readiness and Self-Regulation: A Developmental Psychobiological Approach. Annual Review of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015221
q2 · i? · review · r3
A correlational study reviewed by the article showed that "measures of working memory and the flexible shifting of attention were shown to independently predict early mathematics achievement" controlling for reading ability and IQ. No effect size is printed for this finding.
"An early demonstration of this relation was seen in a correlational study in which measures of working memory and the flexible shifting of attention were shown to independently predict early mathematics achievement over and above measures of reading ability and IQ (Bull & Scerif 2001)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Preschool working memory–flexibility predicts later math achievement, especially in Grade 3 — related
- Cognitive flexibility uniquely predicts literacy achievement in Grades 4 and 6, above and beyond fluid intelligence, attention, inhibitory control, working memory, and planning — related
- IQ and working memory are reliable predictors of academic achievement at the beginning of school when domain knowledge is not controlled — related
- Visuospatial memory did not predict word reading achievement in any grade, providing a discriminative contrast with mathematics — related
- Children's executive function at the beginning of pre-kindergarten predicts growth in mathematics achievement across the pre-kindergarten year — related
- Executive functions and working memory correlate moderately to strongly with mathematics achievement (r = .28 to .40), from preschool through elementary school — related
- Aggression is not a unique predictor of preschool academic development once attention problems and social skills are controlled — related
- Selective attention processes are hypothesized to relate to language, literacy, and mathematics, three domains important to early academic skills
- The set of executive-function and intelligence predictors of academic achievement differs across Grades 2, 4, and 6, with EF contributions appearing cumulative as students get older — related
- Inhibitory control showed insignificant correlations with reading and early mathematics except kindergarten word problems — related
- The WM–flexibility factor predicts math composite scores at both Grade 1 and Grade 3 — related
- The central executive component of working memory is the most important domain-general predictor of later-grade mathematics achievement — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
executive-functions-predict-early-math-over-iq |
title |
Executive function measures predict early mathematics achievement over and above reading ability and IQ |
description |
Executive function measures predict early mathematics achievement over and above reading ability and IQ |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2015 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-17 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — blair-2015 |
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