Early Cognitive Profiles Predicting Reading and Arithmetic Skills in Grades 1 and 7

Publication date: Available online 5 December 2019Source: Contemporary Educational PsychologyAuthor(s): Heidi Korpipää, Kristina Moll, Kaisa Aunola, Asko Tolvanen, Tuire Koponen, Mikko Aro, Marja-Kristiina LerkkanenAbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate cognitive profiles composed of skills predicting the overlap between reading and arithmetic in kindergarten (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid automatized naming, and counting sequence knowledge) and the relation of these profiles to reading and arithmetic skills at Grades 1 and 7. A total of four distinct cognitive profiles were identified in an unselected sample of 1,710 children aged 5–6 years: (1) high linguistic and high counting skills (39.2%), (2) low linguistic and low counting skills (25.4%), (3) high counting skills in relation to linguistic skills (15.3%), and (4) low counting skills in relation to linguistic skills (20.1%). Among most of the children (about 65%), the linguistic and counting skills varied together. Children characterized by high or low overall performance levels across linguistic and counting skills also showed, predictably, high or low overall performance levels in subsequent reading and arithmetic skills in Grades 1 and 7. Children characterized by a discrepancy between linguistic and counting skills (about 35% of the children) in turn showed somewhat discrepant subsequent levels of reading and arithmetic skills. The results point towards individual variation (i.e., het...
Source: Contemporary Educational Psychology - Category: Child Development Source Type: research