Executive functioning as a predictor of children's mathematics ability: Inhibition, switching, and working memory

Children's mathematical skills were considered in relation to executive fun ctions. Using multiple measures-including the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task ( WCST), dual-task performance, Stroop task, and counting span-it was found t hat mathematical ability was significantly correlated with all measures of executive functioning, with the exception of dual-task performance. Further more, regression analyses revealed that each executive function measure pre dicted unique variance in mathematics ability. These results are discussed in terms of a central executive with diverse functions (Shallice & Burgess, 1996) and with recent evidence from Miyake, et al. (2000) showing the unit y and diversity among executive functions. It is proposed that the particul ar difficulties for children of lower mathematical ability are lack of inhi bition and poor working memory, which result in problems with switching and evaluation of new strategies for dealing with a particular task. The pract ical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed, along wit h suggestions for task changes and longitudinal studies that would clarify theoretical and developmental issues related to executive functioning.