INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 10 Program Schedule 02/17/2024 09:00 am - 10:15 am Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120) Poster Session 10: Neurodevelopmental \| Congenital Conditions Final Abstract #85 Overlapping Cognitive Predictors in Elementary Students' Writing and Math Achievement Cassidy Salentine, University of Houston, Houston, United States Cristina Boada, University of Houston, Houston, United States Paul Cirino, University of Houston, Houston, United States Category: Learning Disabilities/Academic Skills Keyword 1: pediatric neuropsychology Keyword 2: academic skills Keyword 3: learning Objective: Writing and mathematics skills are shaped by similar factors, including fine motor skills (FMS), phonological awareness (PA), and working memory (WM). Early writing proficiency relies on FMS for precise letter formation (Graham & Weintraub, 1996), which then facilitates content composition through greater WM capacity (Berninger, 1999). Similarly, the progression of mathematical skills begins with FMS, involving finger-counting, and progresses to mental representations of linguistic codes within WM (Michalczyk et al., 2013). Further, the effect of PA is more prominent on untimed tasks compared to timed tasks (Yang et al., 2021). However, comparisons between these predictors' effects on untimed and timed assessments are lacking. This study explores the interplay between writing and math through neurocognitive underpinnings. Hypotheses were: (1) All predictors will significantly relate writing and math; (2) WM will relate more to math relative to , whereas PA will relate more to writing and untimed math relative to timed math; (3) Path analysis will reveal direct relationships of WM and PA, but not FMS, with all academic outcomes; (4) WM will mediate the relation between FMS and outcomes, and PA will partially mediate the relation between WM and academic outcomes. Participants and Methods: Participants were 677 3rd to 5th-graders from 18 schools in the Southwestern US. PA was measured using the Elision task of the CTOPP (Wagner et al., 1999), WM using the Listening Recall test (Pickering & Gathercole, 2001), and FMS using the Purdue Pegboard (Lafeyette Instruments, 1999). Achievement measures were untimed writing (Spelling; WJ-III; Woodcock et al., 2001), timed writing (Wagner Writing Fluency; Wagner et al., 2009), untimed math (WJ-III Calculations), and timed math (WJ-III Math Fluency). Path analyses in MPLUS analyzed regression and mediation results. Results: For hypothesis 1, all predictors related to all achievement outcomes (r = .09 to .53, p < .001). Hypotheses 2 and 3 were partially supported. Both WM (β = .207 to β = .281) and PA (β = .194 to β = .455) had significant unique paths to all outcomes, even when considering other predictors (all p < .001). However, FMS directly related to outcomes (β = .097 to β = .128) except untimed writing (p = .692). For hypotheses 4, PA alone did not mediate the relation of FMS to achievement outcomes (p’s = .502 to .509), but all indirect effects of FMS to each achievement outcome were significant (p < .001) via WM (alone or with PA). Conclusions: These findings provide nuanced insights into the role of neurocognitive factors of math and writing in timed and untimed contexts. Both direct and indirect effects were noted, implicating PA, WM, and FMS in supporting writing and mathematical skills. The finding that WM appeared to fully mediate the relationship between FMS and spelling supports the idea of higher-order writing tasks rely on WM to coordinate linguistic and motor skills (Kim, 2020). Implications include informing the design of targeted educational interventions for children struggling with writing and math skills and acknowledging the interconnections between two distinct, yet rarely directly compared academic skills.

Poster

02/17/2024
09:00 am - 10:15 am
Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120)

Poster Session 10: Neurodevelopmental | Congenital Conditions

Final Abstract #85

Overlapping Cognitive Predictors in Elementary Students' Writing and Math Achievement

Cassidy Salentine, University of Houston, Houston, United States
Cristina Boada, University of Houston, Houston, United States
Paul Cirino, University of Houston, Houston, United States

Category: Learning Disabilities/Academic Skills

Keyword 1: pediatric neuropsychology
Keyword 2: academic skills
Keyword 3: learning

Objective:

Writing and mathematics skills are shaped by similar factors, including fine motor skills (FMS), phonological awareness (PA), and working memory (WM). Early writing proficiency relies on FMS for precise letter formation (Graham & Weintraub, 1996), which then facilitates content composition through greater WM capacity (Berninger, 1999). Similarly, the progression of mathematical skills begins with FMS, involving finger-counting, and progresses to mental representations of linguistic codes within WM (Michalczyk et al., 2013). Further, the effect of PA is more prominent on untimed tasks compared to timed tasks (Yang et al., 2021). However, comparisons between these predictors' effects on untimed and timed assessments are lacking.

This study explores the interplay between writing and math through neurocognitive underpinnings. Hypotheses were: (1) All predictors will significantly relate writing and math; (2) WM will relate more to math relative to , whereas PA will relate more to writing and untimed math relative to timed math; (3) Path analysis will reveal direct relationships of WM and PA, but not FMS, with all academic outcomes; (4) WM will mediate the relation between FMS and outcomes, and PA will partially mediate the relation between WM and academic outcomes.

Participants and Methods:

Participants were 677 3rd to 5th-graders from 18 schools in the Southwestern US. PA was measured using the Elision task of the CTOPP (Wagner et al., 1999), WM using the Listening Recall test (Pickering & Gathercole, 2001), and FMS using the Purdue Pegboard (Lafeyette Instruments, 1999). Achievement measures were untimed writing (Spelling; WJ-III; Woodcock et al., 2001), timed writing (Wagner Writing Fluency; Wagner et al., 2009), untimed math (WJ-III Calculations), and timed math (WJ-III Math Fluency). Path analyses in MPLUS analyzed regression and mediation results.

Results:

For hypothesis 1, all predictors related to all achievement outcomes (r = .09 to .53, p < .001). Hypotheses 2 and 3 were partially supported. Both WM (β = .207 to β = .281) and PA (β = .194 to β = .455) had significant unique paths to all outcomes, even when considering other predictors (all p < .001). However, FMS directly related to outcomes (β = .097 to β = .128) except untimed writing (p = .692). For hypotheses 4, PA alone did not mediate the relation of FMS to achievement outcomes (p’s = .502 to .509), but all indirect effects of FMS to each achievement outcome were significant (p < .001) via WM (alone or with PA).

Conclusions:

These findings provide nuanced insights into the role of neurocognitive factors of math and writing in timed and untimed contexts. Both direct and indirect effects were noted, implicating PA, WM, and FMS in supporting writing and mathematical skills. The finding that WM appeared to fully mediate the relationship between FMS and spelling supports the idea of higher-order writing tasks rely on WM to coordinate linguistic and motor skills (Kim, 2020). Implications include informing the design of targeted educational interventions for children struggling with writing and math skills and acknowledging the interconnections between two distinct, yet rarely directly compared academic skills.