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Using cognitive diagnostic modeling (CDM), this study identified subtypes of mathematics learning disability (MLD) based on children's numerical skills and examined the language and spatial precursors of these subtypes. Participants were 99 MLD children and 420 low achievers identified from 1839 Finnish children (966 boys) who were followed from preschool (age 6) to fourth grade (2007-2011). Five subtypes were identified: "the arithmetic fluency deficit only subtype, the counting deficit subtype, the pervasive deficit subtype, the symbolic deficit subtype, and the counting and concept deficit subtype." Different subtypes depended on different constellations of language and spatial deficits. Findings highlight the effectiveness of CDM in identifying MLD subtypes and underscore the importance of understanding the specific deficits and antecedents of the subtypes.

The present study examined the development of mathematics skills of Kosovar primary school children in terms of their gender, living area, socio-economic status, and achievement level. A special emphasis was placed on longitudinal investigations of the development of mathematics skills in children with learning difficulties in mathematics over a 2-year and 4-month period. Participants were 553 fourth-graders, 85 of whom identified with mathematical learning difficulties were classified into two subgroups: children with low mathematics achievement and children with limited mathematics ability. Results have shown that there were no gender differences in mathematics achievement. Children's living areas as well as their socio-economic status were observed to have a substantial impact on math performance. The performance level of limited math ability children was lower as compared to low math achieving children on all of the measures assessing math outcomes and reading comprehension. Findings indicate that a majority of the limited math ability group members still met the cutoff criterion after more than 2 years of school attendance.

Background: Physical activity (PA) may benefit academic performance, but it is unclear what kind of classroom‐based PA is optimal for learning. Aim: We studied the effects of physically active maths lessons on children's maths performance and maths‐related effects, and whether gender and previous mathematical or motor skills modify these effects. Sample: A total of 22 volunteered teachers and their pupils with signed consent (N = 397, mean age: 9.3 years, 51% females) participated in a 5‐month, teacher‐led, multi‐arm, cluster‐randomized controlled trial. Methods: The intervention included a PAL group (20 min of physically active learning in each 45‐min lesson), a breaks group (two 5‐min PA breaks in each 45‐min lesson) and a control group (traditional teaching). Maths performance was assessed with a tailored curriculum‐based test. Maths‐related enjoyment, self‐perceptions and anxiety were measured with a self‐reported questionnaire. The individual‐level intervention effects were tested via covariate‐adjusted linear mixed‐effect models with school classes serving as random effects. Results: Changes in maths performance or self‐perceptions did not differ between the intervention groups. Maths anxiety in learning situations increased in the PAL group (effect.28, 95% CI =.01–.56); there was no change in the other groups. Subgroup analyses suggested that maths anxiety increased in the PAL group among children in the two lowest tertiles of motor skills. It decreased in the highest tertile. Enjoyment decreased in the breaks group among pupils in the lowest motor skill tertile. Conclusions: Physically active maths lessons did not affect maths performance or self‐perceptions but had divergent effects on maths anxiety and enjoyment, depending on motor skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mathematical difficulties have been distinguished as mathematics learning disability (MLD) and persistent low achievement (LA). Based on 1,880 Finnish children who were followed from kindergarten (age 6) to fourth grade, this study examined the early risk factors for MLD and LA. Distinct groups of MLD (6.0% of the sample) and LA (25.7%) children were identified on the basis of their mathematics performance between first and fourth grades with latent class growth modeling. Impairment in the same set of cognitive skills, including language, spatial, and counting skills, was found to underlie MLD and LA. The finding highlights the importance of monitoring mathematical development across the early grades and identifying early cognitive precursors of MLD and LA for screening and intervention efforts.

The purpose of this research is to test the validity of commonly used measures of exposure to and production of online extremism. Specifically, we investigate if a definition of hate influences survey responses about the production of and exposure to online hate. To explore the effects of a definition, we used a split experimental design on a sample of 18 to 25-year-old Americans where half of the respondents were exposed to the European Union's definition of hate speech and the other half were not. Then, all respondents completed a survey with commonly used items measuring exposure to and perpetration of online hate. The results reveal that providing a definition affects self-reported levels of exposure and perpetration, but the effects are dependent on race. The findings provide evidence that survey responses about online hate may be conditioned by social desirability and framing biases. The findings that group differences exist in how questions about hate are interpreted when definitions of it are not provided mean we must be careful when using measures that try to capture exposure to and the production of hate. While more research is needed, we recommend providing a clear, unambiguous definition when using surveys to measure online hate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to examine the mathematics skills of fourth-grade children from Kosovo in relation to their background characteristics. Seventy-six children, out of 233 tested, who were identified with learning difficulties in mathematics were further assessed during fifth and sixth grades, in mathematics skills and reading comprehension. The findings showed that there were no gender differences in mathematics achievement, whereas children's urban or rural locations as well as their socio-economic status were observed to have a substantial impact on mathematics performance of children in the main sample, but not for those in the subsample. For children with learning difficulties in mathematics, the initial level of reading skills was a powerful determinant of their later mathematics performance and the initial level of mathematics skills was also similarly predictive of reading comprehension. The children's background characteristics did not add explanatory variance in performance outcomes over their previous mathematics and reading skills learned during the first years of primary school. The high association between mathematics performance and reading comprehension suggests that mathematics and reading problems may result from a similar cognitive background.

The longitudinal relations of domain-general and numerical skills at ages 6-7 years to 3 cognitive domains of arithmetic learning, namely knowing (written computation), applying (arithmetic word problems), and reasoning (arithmetic reasoning) at age 11, were examined for a representative sample of 378 Finnish children. The results showed that domain-general skills, including spatial visualization, language, rapid automatized naming, and working memory, contributed independently to arithmetic learning. These relations were mostly mediated via basic number competence (i.e., counting sequence and number system knowledge), although spatial visualization remained predictive of arithmetic outcomes. The findings underscore a similar developmental course of arithmetic learning across different cognitive domains where domain-general skills build a launchpad for advanced arithmetic via enhancing basic number competence.

The aim of this study was to model the most crucial numerical factors to the development of mathematical skills among children aged five to eight years (i.e. kindergarten, preschool, first and second graders). We categorised numerical skills into four main groups based on the results of longitudinal studies. A series of analyses of test batteries designed to measure the development of mathematical skills in children yielded results in support of this construct. Based on our findings we propose a working model for teachers of core numerical skills that focuses on four major factors: (1) symbolic and non-symbolic number sense; (2) understanding mathematical relations (early mathematical-logical principles, arithmetic principles, mathematical operational symbols, place-value and base-ten system); (3) counting skills (knowledge of number-symbols, number word-sequence, enumeration with concrete objects); and (4) basic skills in arithmetic (arithmetic combinations, addition and subtraction skills with number symbols). The adoption of this working model could improve the efficacy of the assessment of numerical skills of children, but also help educators to structure their support more comprehensively.

This seven-year longitudinal study examined how children's spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON), subitizing based enumeration, and counting skills assessed at five or six years predict their school mathematics achievement at 12 years. The participants were 36 Finnish children without diagnosed neurological disorders. The results, based on partial least squares modeling, demonstrate that SFON and verbal counting skills before school age predict mathematical performance on a standardized test for typical school mathematics in Grade 5. After controlling for nonverbal IQ, only SFON predict school mathematics. Subitizing-based enumeration skills have an indirect effect via number sequence skills and SFON on mathematical performance at 12 years. Early mathematic skills do not predict reading skills at 12 years. Children's early numerical skills, including SFON, before school age are important contributors to substantially later success in school mathematics.

Weaknesses in early number skills have been found to be a risk factor for later difficulties in mathematical performance. Nevertheless, only a few intervention studies with young children have been published. In this study, the responsiveness to early support in kindergarteners with most severe difficulties was examined with two different computer programs. Two intervention groups were matched by age, visuo-spatial, and phonological working memory, as well as early number skills. After a short and intensive computerized intervention, the results indicated significant intervention effects for verbal counting Wilcoxon ES (r) = 0.46, and dot counting fluency, r = 0.52, when practiced with GraphoGame Math, as well as for basic arithmetic, r = 0.63, when practiced with Number Race. The findings suggest that a targeted computerized practice can produce specific training effects in kindergarteners most at-risk for mathematics difficulties. The results are discussed with regard to practical implications for educational game development.

The article examines media consumption and compliance with health-protective measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two-wave, longitudinal surveys were conducted in Finland and the United States in April 2020 and October 2020, with a total of 1,380 participants (N = 1,380). The variables analyzed included daily consumption of different media channels (broadcast, print, and social media), health-protective behavior, and COVID-19 self-efficacy. The results indicated that individuals who consumed more than one media channel on a daily basis exhibited increased health-protective behavior and COVID-19 self-efficacy in both countries. One-sided and social media-based media consumption showed a negative association with health-protective behavior and COVID-19 self-efficacy in both countries. Finally, COVID-19 self-efficacy was found to mediate the relationship between media consumption and health-protective behavior in both countries, with a stronger effect observed in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilizing a longitudinal sample of Finnish children (ages 6-10), two studies examined how early linguistic (spoken vs. written) and spatial skills predict later development of arithmetic, and whether counting sequence knowledge mediates these associations. In Study 1 (N = 1,880), letter knowledge and spatial visualization, measured in kindergarten, predicted the level of arithmetic in first grade, and later growth through third grade. Study 2 (n = 378) further showed that these associations were mediated by counting sequence knowledge measured in first grade. These studies add to the literature by demonstrating the importance of written language for arithmetic development. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that linguistic and spatial skills can improve arithmetic development by enhancing children's number-related knowledge.