Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
Department of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
J Exp Child Psychol. 2025 Jan;249:106109. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.106109. Epub 2024 Oct 30.
Although young children often use counting to solve arithmetic problems, over time they move toward more efficient strategies such as direct retrieval and decomposition. Strategy selection has longitudinal associations with children's math achievement. Existing research indicates that children's executive functions (EFs) support inhibiting unnecessary strategies and adaptively switching between strategies. Moreover, research has documented gender differences in strategy use, but prior literature does not account for the contributions of socioeconomic factors in children's strategy trajectories. The current study examined the unique roles of preschoolers' EFs, gender, household income, and maternal education for the trajectories of strategy use on arithmetic problems across early elementary school. Preschoolers' EFs were assessed at 5 years 3 months of age, and children completed addition and subtraction problems in first, second, and third grades. Children's strategies were categorized as retrieval, counting, decomposition, and sign flipping. Results indicated that children with higher EFs were more likely to use retrieval and sign flipping in first grade compared with children with lower EFs, and this advantage was maintained into third grade. Boys used more retrieval and decomposition, whereas girls used more counting strategies, in first grade, and this pattern held longitudinally. Finally, children whose mothers had more years of education were likely to use decomposition and sign flipping in first grade, with an advantage through third grade. Overall, the current study sheds light on how cognitive and sociodemographic factors differentially contribute to children's accurate strategy use, with implications for how to best target early interventions to support children's math achievement.
尽管幼儿在解决算术问题时经常使用数数，但随着时间的推移，他们会转向更有效的策略，如直接检索和分解。策略选择与儿童的数学成绩具有纵向关联。现有研究表明，儿童的执行功能（EF）支持抑制不必要的策略和自适应地在策略之间切换。此外，研究已经记录了策略使用中的性别差异，但之前的文献没有考虑到社会经济因素对儿童策略轨迹的贡献。本研究考察了学龄前儿童的执行功能、性别、家庭收入和母亲教育对整个小学早期算术问题策略使用轨迹的独特作用。在 5 岁 3 个月时评估了学龄前儿童的执行功能，孩子们在一年级、二年级和三年级完成了加法和减法问题。孩子们的策略分为检索、数数、分解和符号翻转。结果表明，与执行功能较低的儿童相比，执行功能较高的儿童在一年级更有可能使用检索和符号翻转策略，并且这种优势一直持续到三年级。男孩在一年级更倾向于使用检索和分解策略，而女孩则更倾向于使用数数策略，这种模式具有纵向一致性。最后，母亲受教育年限较长的儿童在一年级更有可能使用分解和符号翻转策略，并且这种优势一直持续到三年级。总的来说，本研究揭示了认知和社会经济因素如何对儿童准确的策略使用产生不同的影响，这对如何最好地针对早期干预以支持儿童的数学成绩具有启示意义。
