Does It Count? Pre-School Children's Spontaneous Focusing on Numerosity and Their Development of Arithmetical Skills at School.

BACKGROUND: Children's spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON) is related to numerical skills. This study aimed to examine (1) the developmental trajectory of SFON and (2) the interrelations between SFON and early numerical skills at pre-school as well as their influence on arithmetical skills at school. METHOD: Overall, 1868 German pre-school children were repeatedly assessed until second grade. Nonverbal intelligence, visual attention, visuospatial working memory, SFON and numerical skills were assessed at age five (M = 63 months, Time 1) and age six (M = 72 months, Time 2), and arithmetic was assessed at second grade (M = 95 months, Time 3). RESULTS: SFON increased significantly during pre-school. Path analyses revealed interrelations between SFON and several numerical skills, except number knowledge. Magnitude estimation and basic calculation skills (Time 1 and Time 2), and to a small degree number knowledge (Time 2), contributed directly to arithmetic in second grade. The connection between SFON and arithmetic was fully mediated by magnitude estimation and calculation skills at pre-school. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that SFON first and foremost influences deeper understanding of numerical concepts at pre-school and-in contrast to previous findings -affects only indirectly children's arithmetical development at school.

Efficacy of a Computer-Based Learning Program in Children With Developmental Dyscalculia. What Influences Individual Responsiveness?

This study presents the evaluation of a computer-based learning program for children with developmental dyscalculia and focuses on factors affecting individual responsiveness. The adaptive training program Calcularis 2.0 has been developed according to current neuro-cognitive theory of numerical cognition. It aims to automatize number representations, supports the formation and access to the mental number line and trains arithmetic operations as well as arithmetic fact knowledge in expanding number ranges. Sixty-seven children with developmental dyscalculia from second to fifth grade (mean age 8.96 years) were randomly assigned to one of two groups (Calcularis group, waiting control group). Training duration comprised a minimum of 42 training sessions à 20 min within a maximum period of 13 weeks. Compared to the waiting control group, children of the Calcularis group demonstrated a higher benefit in arithmetic operations and number line estimation. These improvements were shown to be stable after a 3-months post training interval. In addition, this study examines which predictors accounted for training improvements. Results indicate that this self-directed training was especially beneficial for children with low math anxiety scores and without an additional reading and/or spelling disorder. In conclusion, Calcularis 2.0 supports children with developmental dyscalculia to improve their arithmetical abilities and their mental number line representation. However, it is relevant to further adapt the setting to the individual circumstances.

Relation Between Mathematical Performance, Math Anxiety, and Affective Priming in Children With and Without Developmental Dyscalculia.

Many children show negative emotions related to mathematics and some even develop mathematics anxiety. The present study focused on the relation between negative emotions and arithmetical performance in children with and without developmental dyscalculia (DD) using an affective priming task. Previous findings suggested that arithmetic performance is influenced if an affective prime precedes the presentation of an arithmetic problem. In children with DD specifically, responses to arithmetic operations are supposed to be facilitated by both negative and mathematics-related primes (=negative math priming effect).We investigated mathematical performance, math anxiety, and the domain-general abilities of 172 primary school children (76 with DD and 96 controls). All participants also underwent an affective priming task which consisted of the decision whether a simple arithmetic operation (addition or subtraction) that was preceded by a prime (positive/negative/neutral or mathematics-related) was true or false. Our findings did not reveal a negative math priming effect in children with DD. Furthermore, when considering accuracy levels, gender, or math anxiety, the negative math priming effect could not be replicated. However, children with DD showed more math anxiety when explicitly assessed by a specific math anxiety interview and showed lower mathematical performance compared to controls. Moreover, math anxiety was equally present in boys and girls, even in the earliest stages of schooling, and interfered negatively with performance. In conclusion, mathematics is often associated with negative emotions that can be manifested in specific math anxiety, particularly in children with DD. Importantly, present findings suggest that in the assessed age group, it is more reliable to judge math anxiety and investigate its effects on mathematical performance explicitly by adequate questionnaires than by an affective math priming task.

[5-year course of dyslexia ­ Persistence, sex effects, performance in reading and spelling, and school-related success]. / 5-Jahres-Verlauf der LRS: Stabilität, Geschlechtseffekte, Schriftsprachniveau und Schulerfolg.

Objective: The study examines the 5-year course of children with dyslexia with regard to their sex. Furthermore, the study investigates the impact of dyslexia on the performance in reading and spelling skills and school-related success. Method: A group of 995 6- to 16-year-olds were examined at the initial assessment. Part of the initial sample was then re-examined after 43 and 63 months. The diagnosis of dyslexia was based on the double discrepancy criterion using a standard deviation of 1.5. Though they had no intellectual deficits, the children showed a considerable discrepancy between their reading or writing abilities and (1) their nonverbal intelligence and (2) the mean of their grade norm. Results: Nearly 70 % of those examined had a persisting diagnosis of dyslexia over a period of 63 months. The 5-year course was not influenced by sex. Despite average intelligence, the performance in writing and spelling of children suffering from dyslexia was one standard deviation below a control group without dyslexia with average intelligence and 0.5 standard deviations below a group of children suffering from intellectual deficits. Furthermore, the school-related success of the dyslexics was significantly lower than those of children with average intelligence. Dyslexics showed similar school-related success rates to children suffering from intellectual deficits. Conclusions: Dyslexia represents a considerable developmental risk. The adverse impact of dyslexia on school-related success supports the importance of early diagnostics and intervention. It also underlines the need for reliable and general accepted diagnostic criteria. It is important to define such criteria in light of the prevalence rates.

[Prevention of dyslexia ­ short-term and intermediate effects of promoting phonological awareness and letter-sound correspondence with at-risk preschool children]. / Prävention von Lese-Rechtschreibstörungen: Kurz- und mittelfristige Effekte einer Förderung der phonologischen Bewusstheit und der Buchstaben-Laut-Verknüpfung bei Risikokindern im Vorschulalter.

Objective: This study assesses the short-term and intermediate effects of preschool training stimulating phonological awareness and letter-sound correspondence for children at risk of developing dyslexia. Moreover, we examined whether training reduced the frequency of subsequent dyslexic problems. Method: 25 children at risk of developing dyslexia were trained with Hören, Lauschen, Lernen 1 und 2 (Küspert & Schneider, 2008; Plume & Schneider, 2004) by their kindergarten teachers and were compared with 60 untrained at-risk children. Results: The training revealed a significant short-term effect: The phonological awareness of trained at-risk children increased significantly over that of untrained at-risk children. However, there were no differences in phonological awareness, spelling, and reading ability between the first-graders in the training and control group. Furthermore, reading problems were reduced in the training group. Conclusions: In the future, phonological awareness as well as additional predictors should be included when identifying children vulnerable to developing dyslexia. Moreover, in order to prevent dyslexia, additional prerequisite deficits need to be identified, alleviated, and their effects evaluated.

Neurofeedback in ADHD: a single-blind randomized controlled trial.

Neurofeedback treatment has been demonstrated to reduce inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, previous studies did not adequately control confounding variables or did not employ a randomized reinforcer-controlled design. This study addresses those methodological shortcomings by comparing the effects of the following two matched biofeedback training variants on the primary symptoms of ADHD: EEG neurofeedback (NF) aiming at theta/beta ratio reduction and EMG biofeedback (BF) aiming at forehead muscle relaxation. Thirty-five children with ADHD (26 boys, 9 girls; 6-14 years old) were randomly assigned to either the therapy group (NF; n = 18) or the control group (BF; n = 17). Treatment for both groups consisted of 30 sessions. Pre- and post-treatment assessment consisted of psychophysiological measures, behavioural rating scales completed by parents and teachers, as well as psychometric measures. Training effectively reduced theta/beta ratios and EMG levels in the NF and BF groups, respectively. Parents reported significant reductions in primary ADHD symptoms, and inattention improvements in the NF group were higher compared to the control intervention (BF, d (corr) = -.94). NF training also improved attention and reaction times on the psychometric measures. The results indicate that NF effectively reduced inattention symptoms on parent rating scales and reaction time in neuropsychological tests. However, regarding hyperactivity and impulsivity symptoms, the results imply that non-specific factors, such as behavioural contingencies, self-efficacy, structured learning environment and feed-forward processes, may also contribute to the positive behavioural effects induced by neurofeedback training.

[Is a specific disorder of arithmetic skills as common as reading/spelling disorder?]. / Sind Rechenstörungen genau so häufig wie Lese-Rechtschreibstörungen?

BACKGROUND: Referring to the prevalence rates of learning disorders in the research literature, the numbers of mathematics disorder and reading/spelling disorder are often reported to be identical. However, the correlation between intelligence level and reading/spelling skills is much weaker than between intelligence and arithmetic skills. If the same definition criterion is applied to both disorders, a lower prevalence rate for mathematics disorder should be expected. OBJECTIVE: Are there differences in the prevalence estimates for learning disorders depending on the definition criterion? METHOD: A large representative sample of German students (N=1970) was used to review the hypothesis. RESULTS: Depending on the definition criterion, we could show a prevalence range of mathematics disorder between 0.1% and 8.1% in the same sample. Using the same definition criterion for both learning disorders, there are two to three times as many students with reading/spelling disorder than those with mathematics disorder. DISCUSSION: Whenever children with reading/spelling disorder are compared to children with mathematics disorder, the same definition criterion has to be applied.

From childhood to adult age: 18-year longitudinal results and prediction of the course of mental disorders in the community.

OBJECTIVE: This prospective longitudinal study of a representative community sample of children and adolescents (N = 269) examined the long-term course and predictive power of psychiatric symptoms in childhood/adolescence for diagnostic outcome (ICD-10) 18 years later at adult age. METHOD: At both cross-sectional assessments, baseline (1980-1984) and the 18-year follow-up (2001-2004), psychiatric symptoms were assessed using the 'Standardized Psychiatric Interview' (Goldberg et al. in Br J Prev Soc Med 24:18-23, 1970). At follow-up, study participants were reassessed with the standardized M-CIDI (Wittchen and Pfister in Manual und Durchführungsbeschreibung des DIA-X-M-CIDI, Swets and Zeitlinger, Frankfurt, 1997) interview. RESULTS: The participation rate at 18-year follow-up was 82% of those alive. The frequency of clinically relevant depressive symptoms and symptoms of anxiety or phobia was considerably higher when the participants were younger (baseline assessment at childhood, adolescent age) as compared to their scores in adult age. Increased levels of somatic symptoms, fatigue, irritability, sleep disturbances, depression, anxiety and worry as well as phobic symptoms in childhood/adolescence were related to a higher risk of suffering from a psychiatric disorder in adulthood. Depressive symptoms predicted both mood disorders and substance use disorders in adulthood. Phobias predicted later anxiety disorders. CONCLUSION: These data spanning almost two decades add significant information to the existing literature on the course of mental disorders in the community during the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

[Precursors of hyperactive disorders: potential early diagnosis in infants?]. / Vorboten hyperkinetischer Störungen--Früherkennung bereits im Säuglingsalter möglich?

OBJECTIVES: Are there any differences (organic, psychosocial, psychopathological, cognitive or educational, respectively differences in the motor or neurological development) between infants who later on at the age of 8 years suffer from a hyperactive disorder and those who later on at the same age are undisturbed? Are there specific harbingers for hyperactive disorders in the group concerned? METHODS: With regard to their developmental risk load at the age of 3 months, 26 primary school children with hyperactive disorders were compared with 241 healthy children, 25 children with emotional disturbances, and 30 children with socially disruptive behaviour, all of the same age. RESULTS: Identified as the most important predictors for the onset of hyperactive disorders were a reduced birth weight, the mother's origin from a shattered family, early contact impairments on the part of the child, and the mother's neglect of the infant. CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, however, the prediction of later hyperactivity in primary school children on the basis of salient features in the infant children remains unsatisfactory and unspecific.

[Predictors of hyperkinetic disorder--early recognition in childhood]. / Vorboten hyperkinetischer Störungen - Früherkennung im Kleinkindalter.

OBJECTIVES: The prospective longitudinal Mannheim Study of Children at Risk followed the development of children from the age of 2 years up to the age of 8 years. Are there differences between the developmental risk load in toddlers (psychopathology, cognition, motor or neurological development, and educational differences) who suffer from a hyperactive disorder at age 8 and that of undisturbed children of the same age? Are there specific harbingers of hyperkinetic disorders for the group concerned? METHODS: In terms of their developmental risk load at the age of 2 years, 26 primary school children with hyperkinetic disorders were compared to 241 healthy primary school children, as well as to 25 children of the same age with emotional disturbances and 30 children of the same age with socially disruptive behavior. RESULTS: A significant combination of predictors of later hyperkinetic disorders at primary school age proved to be increased fidgetiness and irritability, as well as a reduced language comprehension, at the age of two. CONCLUSIONS: The predictive value of symptoms in early childhood for later hyperkinetic disorder in children of primary school age is higher than that of symptoms assessed in infancy, which although expected is without relevant specificity.