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IntroductionChildren’s involvement in mathematics-related activities in the home environment is associated with the development of their early numeracy over the preschool years. Intervention studies to promote parents’ awareness and provision of mathematics-related home activities are however scant. In this study we developed and tested the effectiveness of a non-intensive intervention program delivered by community pediatricians to promote mathematics-related activities in the home environment.MethodsParents of 204 Italian children were invited to report on the frequency of mathematics-related home activities when children attended the first preschool year (3 years, 8 months of age on average) and, subsequently, the third preschool year (5 years, 6 months of age on average). At both waves, children were also assessed on their early numeracy. In occasion of the routine well-child visit at age 5, parents who were randomly allocated to the intervention condition (vs. a business-as-usual control condition) received guidance on age-appropriate home mathematics-related practices to sustain children’s numerical development.ResultsResults revealed that parents in the intervention group improved their provision of home mathematics-related activities at the post-intervention assessment (relative to baseline) to a greater extent than parents in the control condition. No effect was observed on children’s early numeracy.DiscussionOverall, results are promising in suggesting that community pediatricians may be a resource to promote home mathematics-related activities though non-intensive low-cost interventions.

Referring to Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) and Rubinsten and colleagues’ (2018) theoretical models, the general purpose of this dissertation was to provide a cognitive-environmental approach to the study and promotion of early mathematical skills, underlining the multiplicity of factors that, already at a very early stage, come into play in the emergence and development of math learning from preschool to the beginning of primary school. In line with this main goal, the thesis is essentially divided into two parts: on the one hand, in Chapters 2 and 3, we have examined the role of some cognitive precursors, both domain-general and domain-specific, in predicting typically developing children’s early math knowledge; on the other hand, in Chapters 4 and 5, we have focused on the impact that environmental factors (i.e., the context to which an individual belongs with its peculiar socio-cultural, historical, economic, and political characteristics) may have on the development of early numerical skills. The studies illustreted in the four Chapters strived to fill the following striking gaps in the literature, respectively: a) To date, previous studies conducted on preschoolers have focused mainly on the factors underlying the level of acquisition of emergent math skills at a given time point, without investigating the factors predicting the growth in math competence at such an early age. Moreover, the predictive roles of subitizing ability and ANS acuity are still unclear; b) There is still an absence of shared consensus on how the relative contributions of WM domains and processes to math performance change dynamically during child development, especially before and after the transition to primary school; c) Literature on EFs is lacking on children living in war-affected contexts, and related refugee conditions, as well as no previous study has evaluated early mathematical abilities in children living in highly deprived contexts like these; d) The few studies conducted on EFs development in war contexts have focused exclusively on emotional control and trauma and, to date, no EFs training has ever been specifically implemented in favour of children living in critical contexts such as refugee camps in Kurdistan. In the light of these gaps in the literature, the studies presented in this dissertation addressed the following aims: a) To investigate the domain-general and domain-specific cognitive predictors of growth in typically developing children’s early numerical competence through the first two years of preschool (Chapter 2); b) To examine how the relative contributions of WM domains and processes to typically developing children’s math performance change dynamically before and after the transition to primary school (Chapter 3); c) To explore EFs and early mathematical skills in children living in deprived environments (i.e., war context and refugee condition) (Chapter 4); d) To further investigate hot and cool EFs in children living in a war context who survived genocide and implement a training program to improve these children’s EFs (Chapter 5). In summary, the studies presented in this dissertation have the aim to investigate and promote factors underlying school readiness, specifically mathematical learning, enhancing the organization of age-appropriate and effective trainings interventions that could base children’s learning and achievement abilities to become aware citizens, providing specific tools functional to the acquisition of a political and economic identity to contrast manipulation of minority groups. Taken together, the findings of this dissertation would be beneficial from both a theoretical, practical, and humanitarian point of view, moving in the direction of improving mathematical competence as well as the general quality of life of children from all over the world.

Early hospitalization is a critical experience in a child’s life, with personal and relational effects and repercussions on school learning and achievement. In this paper, we will illustrate the main studies conducted on the psychosocial impact of hospitalization on school-children’s well-being, with a specific focus on surgical intervention, as a particularly invasive medical procedure. We will then present an explanatory research to investigate the mathematical abilities of a group of children with a recent history of hospitalization, who has undergone at least one surgical operation, at the beginning of primary school. Finally, we will compare their mathematical competence with that of a control group of the same age and schooling. L’ospedalizzazione precoce rappresenta un’esperienza critica nella vita di un bambino, con effetti a livello personale e relazionale e con ripercussioni sull’apprendimento e il rendimento scolastico. Nel presente contributo illustreremo i principali studi condotti sull’impatto psicosociale dell’ospedalizzazione sul benessere dei bambini in età scolare, con un focus specifico sull’intervento chirurgico, in quanto procedura medica particolarmente invasiva. Presenteremo, quindi, uno studio esplorativo condotto con l’obiettivo di indagare le abilità matematiche di un gruppo di bambini con una recente storia di ospedalizzazione, che hanno subito almeno un intervento chirurgico, all’inizio della scuola primaria, e confrontarle con la competenza matematica di un gruppo di controllo di pari età e scolarità.

During the lockdown period, to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, Italian teachers at all level were forced to carry out a rapid transition from face-to-face teaching to distance learning. In that context, we administered a short semi-structured questionnaire to 175 primary school teachers with the aim of investigating their main difficulties in conducting distance learning in the first months of school closure. The qualitative analysis of teachers’ answers revealed that they have experienced a critical situation characterized by lack of devices training needs and fears about the effectiveness of distance learning to meet the objectives of primary education. Durante il periodo di chiusura delle scuole, per contenere la diffusione del virus SARS-CoV-19, gli insegnanti delle scuole di ogni ordine e grado sono stati spinti ad attuare una rapida transizione dalla didattica in presenza alla didattica a distanza (DAD). In questo contesto, abbiamo somministrato a 175 insegnanti di Scuola primaria un breve questionario semi-strutturato con lo scopo di indagare le principali difficoltà nel condurre la DAD durante i primi mesi di chiusura delle scuole. L’analisi qualitativa delle risposte ha mostrato che essi hanno vissuto una situazione caratterizzata dalla mancanza di dispositivi, bisogni formativi e timori circa l’efficacia educativa della formazione a distanza nel raggiungimento dei principali obiettivi educativi nelle scuole primarie.

This chapter gives an updated shot on cold pressed argan (Argania spinose) oil. In addition to the description of extraction and processing technique, the main components of nutritional and nutraceutical interest of cold pressed argan (Argania spinose) seed oil are discussed. The presence of aromatic compounds and their contribution to the organoleptic properties, as well as the beneficial properties, are discussed. Applications, with particular attention to the cosmetic field, are identified, and example of innovative green analytical techniques for adulteration detection, i.e., spectroscopy combined with advanced chemometrics is presented., (undefined), info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Mathematical skills are essential to master everyday activities properly, make everyone aware of his/her personal and professional choices and effectively exercise citizenship in a numerate society. For these reasons, it is fundamental to study and describe the factors that can promote or hinder the learning process at the base of this discipline. Literature on the topic has extensively investigated the cognitive abilities that prompt math learning (e.g., intelligence, memory, processing speed) and, more recently, researchers have explored the contribution of the emotional factors (e.g., general or specific anxiety) on math performance. In this paper we will present an update review of the effects of math anxiety on math learning and present a bio-psycho-social model that could help to better understand the possible etiology of this condition. This developmental and dynamic approach seem to be the most suitable for studying and treating math anxiety. Le competenze matematiche sono abilità rilevanti per gestire in modo appropriato le attività quotidiane, fare scelte personali e professionali consapevoli e partecipare responsabilmente alla vita sociale. Data la rilevanza di queste abilità è fondamentale descrivere e studiare i fattori che possono promuovere o, al contrario, ostacolare i processi di apprendimento alla base di questa disciplina. La letteratura di settore ha ampiamente studiato le abilità cognitive che favoriscono l’apprendimento matematico (intelligenza, memoria, velocità di elaborazione delle informazioni), recentemente i ricercatori hanno iniziato a indagare anche il contributo dei fattori emotivi (ansia generale e ansia specifica) sulla performance matematica. In questo articolo presenteremo un’aggiornata revisione della letteratura riguardante gli effetti dell’ansia matematica sull’apprendimento disciplinare e descriveremo un modello bio-psico-sociale che consenta una migliore comprensione dell’eziologia di questa specifica condizione. Questo modello, dinamico e concettualizzato in ottica evolutiva, sembra essere uno tra i più adatti per studiare e promuovere interventi a contrasto dell’ansia matematica.

Il capitolo illustra i risultati delle recenti ricerche riguardanti i precursori dell'apprendimento matematico, approdondento in modo particolre il ruolo dell'Approximate Number System (ANS): Studi recenti mostrano che le differenze individuali nell'acuità dell'ANS sono correlate con le differenze individuali, simultaneamente misurate, nell'abilità matematica già in età prescolare, prima ancora dell’inizio dell’istruzione matematica formale fornita dalla scuola primaria. Ulteriori ricerche hanno suggerito che questa relazione si mantiene nel corso dell’infanzia e dell’adolescenza, durante gli anni della scuola superiore e del college e ancora più avanti, fino all'età adulta (Libertus et al., 2012). In particolare, quanto più precise sono le discriminazioni numeriche non verbali che gli individui riescono ad effettuare, tanto migliore sarà il loro rendimento nei test matematici di profitto standardizzati. Tuttavia nel capitolo vengono presi ciriticamente in esame anche i risultati di vari studi che non hanno rilevato una relazione significativa tra l’ANS e i apprendimento matematico.

Recent research has turned increasing attention to the cognitive underpinnings of early mathematical competence. The Approximate Number System (ANS) is a non-verbal primitive cognitive system that allows to represent and estimate numerical quantity in an imprecise and intuitive way. It is present at birth, is amodal and it supports basic numerical computations like adding, subtracting and comparing quantities without using counting or numerical symbols. ANS acuity is the degree of precision of the internal quantity representation and there are considerable individual differences in ANS precision. Recent findings demonstrating a relationship between ANS acuity and mathematical ability have suggested that the ANS plays a foundational role on later-learned math skills. However, not all studies have found links between the ANS and mathematical ability in children and the evidence for a relationship in adults is mixed. It is still unclear if the relationship between the ANS and mathematical ability found in some studies could be mediated by other general cognitive abilities. Indeed, recent research findings suggest that this relationship may be the result of inhibition skills, rather than the precision of nonsymbolic representations. The primary purpose of this 2-year longitudinal study was to investigate the relationship between the ANS and mathematical ability, analysing the data separately for congruent and incongruent dot comparison task trials. We measured ANS acuity, verbal intelligence and different aspects of numerical and mathematical competence in 110 children twice, in first and second grade (Time 1 and Time 2), a year apart. ANS acuity was assessed with a computerized non-symbolic numerical comparison task. At Time 1, correlational analyses indicated that ANS acuity was associated with mathematical ability. This association was significant for both congruent and incongruent trials of the dot comparison task. In particular, it was found that the subgroup of children with higher ANS performance showed better mathematical ability than the subgroup of children with lower ANS performance. Also at Time 2, correlational analyses suggested an association between ANS acuity and mathematical ability and this positive correlation was significant for both congruent and incongruent trials again. These results are in contrast with the hypothesis that the relationship between the ANS and mathematical ability may be an artefact of the inhibitory control demands of incongruent trials in the dot comparison task. This study thereby suggests a tight link between the ANS and mathematical ability.

An increasing number of studies have investigated the cognitive components that contribute to the development of mathematical skills. The Approximate Number System (ANS) is a non-verbal, primitive, noisy and imprecise cognitive system of magnitude representation for making quantitative judgments and decisions. It allows discrimination of large numerosities without using counting or numerical symbols. The ANS has been considered one of the foundational-specific skills that underlie the development of mathematical abilities. However, the relationship between the ANS and mathematical abilities in preschool children is still matter of debate as it has been evidenced in some studies but not in others. Therefore, it remains controversial whether the ANS serves as a foundation for mathematical abilities. The present study investigated the relationship between ANS performance and mathematics in 110 first grade children. We measured ANS abilities, verbal intelligence and different aspects of numerical competence. Correlational analyses indicated that performance in the approximate addition ANS task was associated with mathematical abilities, even when age and verbal IQ were controlled for. Moreover, it was found that the subgroup of children with higher ANS performance showed better mathematical abilities than the subgroup of children with lower ANS performance. Longitudinal and training studies are needed to identify the direction of the link between ANS and mathematical ability.