Jenny Yun-Chen Chan , Vanessa Vieites , Jinjing (Jenny) Wang
{"title":"The links between quantitative versus spatial language knowledge and numeracy skills in kindergarten children","authors":"Jenny Yun-Chen Chan , Vanessa Vieites , Jinjing (Jenny) Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.cogdev.2025.101560","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Relational language knowledge, including the understanding of quantitative and spatial terms, is generally associated with children’s developing numeracy skills. Still unclear, however, are the developmental trajectory and direction of the potential links between different aspects of relational language and various facets of numeracy skills. The current study used cross-lagged panel models to analyze the links between quantitative versus spatial language knowledge and facets of numeracy skills among 104 kindergarten children (5.9 years; 44 % boys; 37 % White, 25 % Black, 14 % Asian, 24 % Other), who were tested at two separate time points six weeks apart. The models revealed that, after controlling for children’s general vocabulary knowledge, their quantitative language knowledge at Time 1 predicted their number comparison skills at Time 2. In contrast, children’s number ordering skills at Time 1 predicted their spatial language knowledge at Time 2. Children’s number line estimation skills at Time 1 also predicted their spatial language knowledge at Time 2. However, when replacing general vocabulary knowledge with spatial or quantitative language knowledge as a covariate, only the link from number line estimation skills to later spatial language knowledge remained significant. Together, these results provide some evidence for the specificity and directionality of the influences between quantitative versus spatial language and facets of numeracy skills.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51422,"journal":{"name":"Cognitive Development","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 101560"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Cognitive Development","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088520142500019X","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Relational language knowledge, including the understanding of quantitative and spatial terms, is generally associated with children’s developing numeracy skills. Still unclear, however, are the developmental trajectory and direction of the potential links between different aspects of relational language and various facets of numeracy skills. The current study used cross-lagged panel models to analyze the links between quantitative versus spatial language knowledge and facets of numeracy skills among 104 kindergarten children (5.9 years; 44 % boys; 37 % White, 25 % Black, 14 % Asian, 24 % Other), who were tested at two separate time points six weeks apart. The models revealed that, after controlling for children’s general vocabulary knowledge, their quantitative language knowledge at Time 1 predicted their number comparison skills at Time 2. In contrast, children’s number ordering skills at Time 1 predicted their spatial language knowledge at Time 2. Children’s number line estimation skills at Time 1 also predicted their spatial language knowledge at Time 2. However, when replacing general vocabulary knowledge with spatial or quantitative language knowledge as a covariate, only the link from number line estimation skills to later spatial language knowledge remained significant. Together, these results provide some evidence for the specificity and directionality of the influences between quantitative versus spatial language and facets of numeracy skills.
期刊介绍:
Cognitive Development contains the very best empirical and theoretical work on the development of perception, memory, language, concepts, thinking, problem solving, metacognition, and social cognition. Criteria for acceptance of articles will be: significance of the work to issues of current interest, substance of the argument, and clarity of expression. For purposes of publication in Cognitive Development, moral and social development will be considered part of cognitive development when they are related to the development of knowledge or thought processes.