Enhancing children’s numeracy and executive functions via their explicit integration

Abstract

Executive functions (EF) are crucial to regulating learning and are predictors of emerging mathematics. However, interventions that leverage EF to improve mathematics remain poorly understood. 193 four-year-olds (mean age = 3 years; 11 months pre-intervention; 111 female, 69% White) were assessed 5 months apart, with 103 children randomised to an integrated EF and mathematics intervention. Our pre-registered hypotheses proposed that the intervention would improve mathematics more than practice as usual. Multi-level modelling and network analyses were applied to the data. The intervention group improved more than the control group in overall numeracy, even when controlling for differences across settings in EF and mathematics-enhancing practices. EF and mathematics measures showed greater interconnectedness post-intervention. In addition, disadvantaged children in the intervention group made greater gains than in the control group. Our findings emphasise the need to consider EFs in their integration with co-developing functions, and in their educational and socio-economic context.

Metadata

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Scerif, G. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6371-8875 Sučević, J. Andrews, H. Blakey, E. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3685-3649 Gattas, S.U. Godfrey, A. Hawes, Z. Howard, S.J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1258-3210 Kent, L. Merkley, R. O’Connor, R. O’Reilly, F. Simms, V.
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	© The Author(s) 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Keywords:	Psychology; Social sciences
Dates:	Published: 18 February 2025 Published (online): 18 February 2025 Accepted: 27 January 2025 Submitted: 27 May 2024
Institution:	The University of Sheffield
Academic Units:	The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Psychology (Sheffield)
Depositing User:	Symplectic Sheffield
Date Deposited:	24 Feb 2025 12:48
Last Modified:	24 Feb 2025 12:48
Status:	Published
Publisher:	Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Refereed:	Yes
Identification Number:	10.1038/s41539-025-00302-9
Related URLs:	PubMed URL Dataset Dataset
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:223699