The cognitive-linguistic profiles and academic performances of Chinese children with dyslexia across cultures: Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei.

This study examined the cognitive-linguistic and literacy-related correlates of dyslexia in three Chinese cities and the English word reading and mathematics performances of Chinese children with dyslexia. Chinese children with/without dyslexia were measured with an equivalent test battery of literacy and mathematics in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taipei. Univariate analysis results suggested that phonological sensitivity distinguished those with and without dyslexia across all three cities in group comparisons. In Taipei and Hong Kong, morphological awareness, delayed copying, and spelling also distinguished the groups. Logistic regression analyses demonstrated that Chinese character reading, as directly compared to Chinese word reading, also distinguished the groups particularly well. In addition, in Beijing and Hong Kong, children with dyslexia performed significantly less well in English word reading than those without dyslexia. In Hong Kong and Taipei, children with dyslexia also had difficulties in mathematics performance. Findings highlight the fundamental importance of some cognitive-linguistic skills for explaining Chinese dyslexia across cultures, the utility of recognizing the individual Chinese character as a foundational unit of analysis in Chinese across cultures, and the generalizability of the comorbidity of both English as a second language (L2) and mathematics with dyslexia in Chinese children in both Beijing and Hong Kong.

The role of linguistic and cognitive skills in reading Chinese as a second language: A path analysis modeling approach.

This study examined the role of basic linguistic skills (vocabulary, syntax, orthography, and morphological awareness), basic cognitive skills (working memory), and higher-order cognitive skills (inference making and reading monitoring) in reading Chinese as a second language (L2). A total of 252 international students from Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Laos were recruited, and a range of measures including a Chinese reading comprehension test (HSK level 3), four linguistic knowledge tests on Chinese lexical, syntactic, and orthographic knowledge as well as morphological awareness, a reading span test, an inference making task, and an inconsistency detection test. The results of hierarchical multiple regressions showed that the measured linguistic skills and cognitive skills explained 80% of the variances in L2 Chinese reading, among which morphological awareness made the largest contribution. The path analysis revealed that linguistic skills and working memory contributed indirectly to reading comprehension via inference making and comprehension monitoring, while the two higher-order cognitive skills made direct contributions. Overall, this study demonstrates that inference making and comprehension monitoring contributed directly to reading comprehension, while linguistic skills and working memory functioned indirectly via the higher-order cognitive skills It also highlights the importance of morphological awareness in a hierarchical model of L2 Chinese reading.

Role of compounding awareness in vocabulary knowledge among Chinese children with blindness and sightedness.

This study aimed to examine the role of compounding awareness in vocabulary knowledge acquisition among Chinese children with blindness compared to sighted children during the early (grades 1-3) and late (grades 4-6) primary school years, through a sample of 142 children with blindness. Regression analysis was used to explore the distinctive role of compounding awareness in vocabulary knowledge among children with blindness. First, the children's age, working memory, and rapid automatized naming were entered. Phonological awareness was entered in the second step, and compounding awareness was entered in the third and final steps. The results of regression analysis indicated that compounding awareness was a unique predictor of vocabulary knowledge among both children with blindness and sightedness during the early and late primary education levels. Moreover, the results showed that compounding awareness predicted more variation at the early primary level, especially among children with blindness. In particular, the results of this study highlight the essential and unique role of compounding awareness in the acquisition of vocabulary at the primary level among both children with blindness and sightedness.

Effectiveness of parent coaching on the literacy skills of Hong Kong Chinese Children with and without dyslexia.

Literacy skills are important for children's development. The present study explored the effectiveness of a parent coaching approach on the reading and spelling skills and compared cognitive-linguistic skills performances between Chinese children with and without dyslexia. Participants were 33 children with dyslexia and 77 children without dyslexia, as well as their parent, in Hong Kong. Children were divided into three groups: dyslexia with training, non-dyslexia with training, and non-dyslexia without training. Parents in both training groups were instructed to facilitate children's literacy skills. A series of cognitive-linguistic skills were tested on children at pretest. Children received measures of character reading, word reading, and word spelling before and after the parent coaching. Results showed that, compared to children without dyslexia, children with dyslexia performed significantly more poorly on all cognitive-linguistic skills. Analyses of the training effect demonstrated that the dyslexia with training group significantly improved their performances on word reading and word spelling following the intervention. In addition, those without dyslexia who experienced training performed significantly better on character reading and word spelling at posttest than pretest. These results suggest that parent coaching can be one potentially effective method of promoting literacy skills among children both with and without dyslexia.

Spelling as a way to classify poor Chinese-English literacy skills in Hong Kong Chinese children.

Previous work has predominantly focused on word reading in studying literacy difficulties; very little work has focused on spelling difficulty instead. The present study adopted spelling (dictation) as the criterion to classify poor literacy skills in Hong Kong Chinese-English bilingual children. We examined the cognitive-linguistic skills profiles across four groups of children with different spelling abilities. Based on performances on Chinese and English dictation (criterion = below 25% in a larger sample), four groups were identified, 21 poor spellers of Chinese (PC), 18 poor spellers of English (PE), 27 poor spellers of both languages (PB), and 30 good spellers of both scripts (GB). Measures on language-specific tests of cognitive-linguistic skills (phonological awareness, lexical decision, morphological awareness, rapid naming, and delayed copying) were included to compare the degree of deficit exhibited by each group. With age, grade, and non-verbal intelligence controlled, one-way ANCOVA results revealed that, compared to GB, PC manifested significant deficits in Chinese-delayed copying but scored similarly on all English cognitive-linguistic skills. PE and PB showed significant deficits in Chinese and English phonological awareness compared to PC; they were significantly weaker in English-delayed copying, morphological awareness, and rapid naming (RAN). The PB group was significantly slower in both Chinese and English RAN compared to GB. Findings highlight the critical role of delayed copying in distinguishing poor spellers in both Chinese and English, the importance of phonological awareness for spelling in English but not in Chinese, and the role of automaticity in bilingual spelling difficulties.

The talking eyes: Pupillometry to index verbal fluency in normal aging.

BACKGROUND: Verbal fluency tasks are widely used to assess cognitive and linguistic abilities in older adults. In this study, we investigated whether pupillometry can be used to measure verbal fluency in healthy older adults. METHODS: We invited 45 older adults (Mean age = 66.55 years, SD = 4.32) to perform a verbal fluency task, which involves generating as many words as possible beginning with the letter "P" for a duration of one minute. We also invited participants to perform a control task, which involves counting aloud for one minute. In both tasks, we recorded pupil activity with eye-tracking glasses. RESULTS: Analysis demonstrated a larger pupil size during the verbal fluency condition than in the counting condition. Significant positive correlations were observed between pupil size and correct responses on the verbal fluency task. CONCLUSION: The larger pupil size during the verbal fluency condition can be attributed to the cognitive load inherent in the verbal fluency task and/or to the ability of older adults to produce correct answers on this task. Our study demonstrates how pupillometry can be used as an ecological physiological assessment of not only verbal fluency, but also linguistic ability in general, in normal aging.

Reading, linguistic, and metacognitive skills: are they reciprocally related past the first school years?

Empirical research has systematically demonstrated the predictive role of reading, linguistic and metacognitive skills on reading comprehension performance. The study of the directionality of these relations and their relative contribution in the more advanced grades of primary school is an important aim for reading research, with practical implications for educational contexts. These issues are of particular relevance in semitransparent orthographies such as European Portuguese, as there is empirical evidence that these relations change over time. The goal of this study was to examine the longitudinal relations between oral reading fluency, listening comprehension, vocabulary, reading strategy use and reading comprehension in Portuguese students across grades 4 to 6. For this purpose, reciprocal-causation models with cross-lagged paths were tested using Mplus. The sample included 110 students who completed at least two assessment time points. The results indicated that there is a reciprocal relation between listening comprehension and reading comprehension, as well as between vocabulary and reading comprehension, in every grade. Oral reading fluency was a significant predictor of reading comprehension across grades 4-6, but the opposite relation was not verified. Reading strategy use in grade 5 was predicted by reading comprehension in grade 4. The results are discussed considering previous studies and their potential impact on psychoeducational practice and research. Limitations of the study and guidelines for future research are pointed out.

Los Hermanos de Niños con Autismo: Habilidades Lingüísticas y Motrices más allá de los Tres Años / Siblings of children with Autism: Linguistic and motor skills beyond three years of life

Los hermanos de niños con trastorno del espectro autista (H-TEA) pueden mostrar dificultades tempranas en habilidades lingüísticas y motrices, aunque pocos estudios examinan estas habilidades en niños más mayores. Analizamos dichas habilidades en niños entre 4 y 7 años para saber si las dificultades permanecen, y conocer su magnitud. Se examinó el lenguaje expresivo, receptivo, motricidad fina y gruesa en 43 niños: 25 H-TEA y 18 hermanos de niños con desarrollo típico (H-DT) en diferentes pruebas estandarizadas. Los resultados indican que hay diferencias significativas (todas con ps < .05) entre ambos grupos, mostrando el grupo H-TEA peor desempeño lingüístico receptivo en comprensión gramatical y en motricidad, en dimensión de puntería y motricidad global. Se concluye que ser conscientes de esas dificultades lingüísticas y motrices y detectarlas, ayudará a los niños en su desarrollo global. Son necesarios estudios en H-TEA en etapas de infantil y primaria para saber cómo afectarán estas diferencias al ámbito escolar.

Siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (Sib-ASD) may show difficulties in language and motor skills at a very early age. However, few studies have evaluated these skills in older children. We analyze these skills in children between 4 and 7 years old to test whether these difficulties still exist and, if so, to describe how this magnitude is. We examined expressive and receptive language, and fine and gross motor skills of 43 children: 25 Sib-ASD and 18 siblings of children with typical development (Sib-TD) through several standardized tests. The results show that there are significant differences (all with ps < .05) between groups, showing a worse performance in grammatical comprehension, and related to motor skills in ball skills and overall motor skills in Sib-ASD. It is discussed that the fact of being aware of and identify these difficulties will help these children in their global development. Thus, more studies on sib-ASD in infancy and primary school are needed, in order to know how these differences might affect their school performance.

Cognitive Retroactive Transfer of Language Skills From English as a Foreign Language to Hebrew as the First Language.

The study tested whether cognitive retroactive transfer (CRT) of language skills from English to Hebrew takes place; specifically, whether an improvement in linguistic and meta-linguistic skills in English as a foreign language (FL) would lead to an improvement in these skills in Hebrew as the first language (L1). The participants consisted of 124 students in Grade 6 who were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. Each group was further divided into readers with dyslexia, poor readers, and typical readers groups. The experimental group participated in an English intervention program designed for this study. All participants were administered a battery of pre- and post-treatment tests in linguistic and meta-linguistic skills in Hebrew and in English. The findings supported the existence of CRT from skills in English to skills in Hebrew with reference to most of the variables in the domains of reading, writing, and language skills. The improvement in most of the linguistic and meta-linguistic tasks in both English and Hebrew was significantly higher in the experimental group compared with the control group. The innovation of this study was in testing CRT of linguistic and meta-linguistic skills from English to Hebrew. Limitations and direction for future research are discussed.

The Effects of Orthographic Neighborhood Size and the Influence of Individual Differences in Linguistic Skills During the Recognition of Chinese Words.

There are still inconsistencies as to whether frequency and orthographic neighborhood size affect the reading and recognition of Chinese words. In addition, research on Chinese reading still adheres to the view that "all skilled readers read in the same way" and pays little attention to the influence of individual differences in linguistic skills on word recognition. In this research, we studied the recognition of Chinese two-character words in a lexical decision task (LDT) by manipulating neighborhood size and word frequency and controlling the frequency of the initial constituent character. Individual differences in linguistic skills were assessed through tests of spelling and reading comprehension. The results showed that: (1) A larger orthographic neighborhood size of the initial character had a facilitative effect on Chinese word recognition. The orthographic neighborhood size effect is modulated by word frequency, but this modulation effect was not stable. (2) Spelling and reading comprehension skills are good indicators to assess individual differences in Chinese linguistic skills, and they are significantly correlated. (3) Individual differences in linguistic skills influence the neighborhood size effect, which is moderated by word frequency.

Child, Parent, and Play - An Insight into These Dimensions Among Children with and without Receptive Expressive Language Disorder Using Video-Based Analysis.

PURPOSE: Language development in children aged 3-6 years is shaped by their pre-linguistic abilities, communication patterns and play behaviors along with parental communicative roles. Little is known about how these aspects are distributed among children with receptive expressive language disorder (CWRELD) in comparison to typically developing children (CWTDL). The present research explores these differences between the two groups using a video-based analysis with a belief that an understanding of these aspects may facilitate age-appropriate speech and language acquisition in children with language delay. METHODS: A video-based analysis of parent-child interactions was carried out for 10 children each with receptive expressive language disorder and typical language development, respectively. The two groups were compared for the child's turn-taking skills, eye contact span, autonomous instances, communication patterns, play behaviors and parental communication roles. RESULTS: Children with receptive expressive language disorder exhibited significantly fewer proportion of turns and autonomous instances along with a greater proportion of eye contact to objects than the parent. Majority of the children with language delay were at the "Requester" or "Early communicators" stage and demonstrated either "Exploratory" or "Functional play" behaviors. Most of the typically developing children were at the "Partner stage" of communication and exhibited "Functional", "Constructive" or "Symbolic Play". Parents of children with language delay mostly exhibited "Helper" type communicative roles while parents from typically developing groups showed "Partner" type communicative profile. CONCLUSION: A quantitative planning and monitoring of pre-linguistic skills, determination of communicative patterns and play behaviors is important for clinicians working with children having a language delay. Assessing and modifying parental communicative roles are also crucial. Understanding the distribution of these research variables among CWRELD in comparison to CWTDL may help clinicians in planning precise treatment goals, monitoring specific linguistic progress, ensuring better parental participation and delivering better outcomes during language therapy.

Acquisition of Mathematical and Linguistic Skills in Children With Learning Difficulties.

Comorbid learning difficulties in linguistic and mathematical skills often emerge in primary school age. The cause of coinciding of both learning difficulties during children's development spanning pre- and primary-school age is not yet well understood. To address this research gap, we used data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS; n = 301) of four groups of children which were categorized according to their skill levels in pre-school age: children with learning difficulties isolated in linguistic skills (LD), children with learning difficulties isolated in mathematical skills (MD), children with learning difficulties combined in linguistic and mathematical skills (MD/LD), and children with typical development in both skills (TA). Computing univariate and repeated measures ANCOVAs we compared the mathematical and linguistic development of the four groups of children (LD, MD, LD/MD, and TA) spanning age four to ten. Results reveal a partial catch-up in linguistic skills (lexical, grammatical) for children with LD. In contrast, children with MD did not overcome their mathematical competence gap in comparison with TA and LD. Moreover, children with MD showed a decrease in grammatical skills during transition in primary school. Further, children with MD/LD displayed the weakest performance in linguistic and mathematical skills during pre- and primary-school age in general. However, after controlling for working memory, initial performance differences between the groups decreased in favor of MD/LD. The relation between linguistic skills and mathematical skills in persisting learning difficulties as well as the specific role of working memory are discussed.

Towards an Integrated Curriculum in a Speech and Language Pathology Education Programme: Development and Constituents' Initial Responses.

BACKGROUND: A traditional curricular structure may challenge integration between foundational and clinical sciences in speech and language pathology (SLP) education. This project aimed to increase curriculum integration at a Swedish SLP education programme. METHODS: Learning outcomes in the existent curriculum were copied from their original courses and re-structured with reference to vertical tracks, in order to address them within and across years of study. A content analysis of interviews with teachers and students was conducted for the evaluation of curricular change. RESULTS: Among the changes were earlier introduction to clinical science and revisiting of foundational sciences later in the education. Theme concepts were defined to scaffold horizontal integration, whereas revisited use of documented material was formalized to ensure vertical integration. In evaluation interviews, multiple examples were provided of how the new curriculum was perceived as being more integrated, with horizontal themes and vertical tracks providing structure. Concerns raised highlight the importance of appointing clear responsibilities. CONCLUSIONS: The concepts "gaps" and "overlaps" may guide remediation of areas where increased curricular integration is warranted. Serial child observations running through the curriculum may provide a platform for both horizontal and vertical integration. For maintenance of curricular integration, clear responsibilities are needed, stretching across course and semester boundaries.

Predictors for delayed linguistic skills in very preterm infants.

BACKGROUND: Preterm-born children are at higher risk for impaired linguistic abilities than are their term-born peers. The aim of the current study was to determine early predictors for delayed linguistic skills in very preterm-born preschool children. METHODS: Between January 2005 and November 2010 all very preterm infants born at < 32 weeks gestation in Tyrol were prospectively enrolled (n = 421); 248 of them had a detailed examination at the age of five years including cognitive assessment (Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, third edition (WPPSI-III) or Snijders-Oomen Nonverbal Intelligence Tests (SON-R)) as well as a screening test for language skills (Bielefelder screening for early diagnosis of reading problems and weak spelling (BISC)). The association between pre-and postnatal factors and poor performance on the BISC assessment was analyzed by means of logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Of the 248 children 79 (31.8%) showed delayed literacy precursor skills. Male sex, gestational age, retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) grades 3-4 and low maternal education were predictive for delayed linguistic skills at 5 years of age in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: This study identified predictors for delayed literacy precursor skills. These data support the finding that in very preterm infants pre-and perinatal as well as sociodemographic factors account for linguistic skills in the preschool period.

Linguistic and non-linguistic prosodic skills in Spanish children with developmental dyslexia.

BACKGROUND: The deficit on segmental phonology in developmental dyslexia is well established and according to recent studies this deficit extends to suprasegmental phonology or prosody. However, these studies have focused on word-level prosody. Further research is needed concerning prosodic deficit in dyslexia, especially with a Spanish-speaking population. AIMS: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of linguistic (word and phrase-level) and non-linguistic prosodic skills in Spanish children with developmental dyslexia. METHOD AND PROCEDURE: 48 Spanish children (8-9 years of age) from ten primary education schools were selected (24 children with developmental dyslexia and 24 chronological age-control children). Non-linguistic rhythm, word and phrase-level prosody, phonological awareness, nonverbal intelligence and reading aloud were assessed. RESULTS: The results obtained show that children with developmental dyslexia scored lower than typically developing readers on non-linguistic rhythm and word and phrase-level prosody tasks. The differences remained statistically significant at the phrase level after controlling for word-level processing (phonological or prosodic), phonological awareness, non-linguistic rhythm and reading skills. CONCLUSIONS: Children with developmental dyslexia in Spanish exhibit a core deficit in suprasegmental phonology, at linguistic and non-linguistic levels. The implications of suprasegmental phonology skills for reading acquisition disabilities are discussed.

Habilidades lingüísticas y decodificación en niños con trastorno específico del lenguaje con y sin dificultades de comprensión lectora / Linguistic skills and decoding among children with specific language impairment with and without reading comprehension difficulties

Los niños con TEL son considerados un grupo de riesgo para el aprendizaje del lenguaje escrito, dado que sus dificultades lingüísticas pueden influir en su desempeño en comprensión lectora, aunque esto no necesariamente ocurre en todos los niños con TEL. El objetivo de este estudio es comparar el desempeño en las habilidades lingüísticas y decodificación entre niños con TEL que se agruparon según la presencia o ausencia de dificultades en comprensión lectora. La muestra estuvo constituida por 60 niños con TEL de primer año básico, 42 de ellos con problemas de comprensión lectora y 18 niños que no presentaban dificultad en este aspecto. Se evaluaron habilidades lectoras (decodificación y comprensión lectora) y habilidades lingüísticas (conciencia fonológica, vocabulario y discurso narrativo expresivo y comprensivo). Los resultados muestran que no existen diferencias estadísticamente significativas en las habilidades lingüísticas entre niños con y sin dificultades de comprensión lectora. En cuanto a la decodificación, se observa un rendimiento significativamente inferior en el grupo de niños con dificultades de comprensión lectora. En este grupo, conciencia fonológica y decodificación están altamente correlacionadas con la comprensión lectora, mientras que estas mismas variables no se correlacionan en los niños sin problemas de comprensión lectora.

Children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) are deemed to be a group at risk in learning written language. Their linguistic deficit may impact on their reading comprehension performance, although this not the case for all children with SLI. The aim ofthis study is to observe the possible differences in linguistic and decoding skills in children with SLI with and without reading comprehension problems. The sample consisted of 60 first grade children with SLI, of which 42 are poor comprehenders and 18 are good comprehenders. Reading skills (decoding and reading comprehension) and linguistic skills (phonological awareness, vocabulary as well as expressive and comprehensive narrative speech) were assessed. Results show that there are no statistically significant differences in linguistic skills between good comprehenders and poor comprehender. Significant differences were found for decoding, with children with reading comprehension problems performing significantly lower than good comprehenders. In the group of children with reading comprehension problems, phonological awareness and decoding highly correlate with reading comprehension, while the very same variables have no correlation among children with good reading comprehension.

The Impact of Morphological Awareness on Word Reading and Dictation in Chinese Early Adolescent Readers With and Without Dyslexia.

This study investigated the role of morphological awareness in understanding Chinese word reading and dictation among Chinese-speaking adolescent readers in Hong Kong as well as the cognitive-linguistic profile of early adolescent readers with dyslexia. Fifty-four readers with dyslexia in Grades 5 and 6 were compared with 54 chronological age-matched (CA) typical readers on the following measures of cognitive-linguistic and literacy skills: morphological awareness, phonological awareness, visual-orthographic knowledge, rapid naming, vocabulary knowledge, verbal short-term memory (STM), Chinese word reading, and dictation (or spelling). The results indicated that early adolescent readers with dyslexia performed less well than the typical readers on all cognitive-linguistic and literacy measures except the phonological measures. Both groups' scores showed substantial correlations between morphological awareness and Chinese word reading and dictation. Visual-orthographic knowledge and rapid naming were also associated with dictation in early adolescent readers with and without dyslexia, respectively. Moderated multiple regression analyses further revealed that morphological awareness and rapid naming explained unique variance in word reading and dictation for the readers with dyslexia and typical readers separately after controlling readers' age and group effect. These results highlight the potential importance of morphological awareness and rapid naming in Chinese word reading and writing in Chinese early adolescents' literacy development and impairment.

Lexical-Access Ability and Cognitive Predictors of Speech Recognition in Noise in Adult Cochlear Implant Users.

Not all of the variance in speech-recognition performance of cochlear implant (CI) users can be explained by biographic and auditory factors. In normal-hearing listeners, linguistic and cognitive factors determine most of speech-in-noise performance. The current study explored specifically the influence of visually measured lexical-access ability compared with other cognitive factors on speech recognition of 24 postlingually deafened CI users. Speech-recognition performance was measured with monosyllables in quiet (consonant-vowel-consonant [CVC]), sentences-in-noise (SIN), and digit-triplets in noise (DIN). In addition to a composite variable of lexical-access ability (LA), measured with a lexical-decision test (LDT) and word-naming task, vocabulary size, working-memory capacity (Reading Span test [RSpan]), and a visual analogue of the SIN test (text reception threshold test) were measured. The DIN test was used to correct for auditory factors in SIN thresholds by taking the difference between SIN and DIN: SRTdiff. Correlation analyses revealed that duration of hearing loss (dHL) was related to SIN thresholds. Better working-memory capacity was related to SIN and SRTdiff scores. LDT reaction time was positively correlated with SRTdiff scores. No significant relationships were found for CVC or DIN scores with the predictor variables. Regression analyses showed that together with dHL, RSpan explained 55% of the variance in SIN thresholds. When controlling for auditory performance, LA, LDT, and RSpan separately explained, together with dHL, respectively 37%, 36%, and 46% of the variance in SRTdiff outcome. The results suggest that poor verbal working-memory capacity and to a lesser extent poor lexical-access ability limit speech-recognition ability in listeners with a CI.

Refining the quantitative pathway of the Pathways to Mathematics model.

In the current study, we adopted the Pathways to Mathematics model of LeFevre et al. (2010). In this model, there are three cognitive domains--labeled as the quantitative, linguistic, and working memory pathways--that make unique contributions to children's mathematical development. We attempted to refine the quantitative pathway by combining children's (N=141 in Grades 2 and 3) subitizing, counting, and symbolic magnitude comparison skills using principal components analysis. The quantitative pathway was examined in relation to dependent numerical measures (backward counting, arithmetic fluency, calculation, and number system knowledge) and a dependent reading measure, while simultaneously accounting for linguistic and working memory skills. Analyses controlled for processing speed, parental education, and gender. We hypothesized that the quantitative, linguistic, and working memory pathways would account for unique variance in the numerical outcomes; this was the case for backward counting and arithmetic fluency. However, only the quantitative and linguistic pathways (not working memory) accounted for unique variance in calculation and number system knowledge. Not surprisingly, only the linguistic pathway accounted for unique variance in the reading measure. These findings suggest that the relative contributions of quantitative, linguistic, and working memory skills vary depending on the specific cognitive task.