BPsych (Honours)

PhD Candidate, School of Psychology

Contact details for Ms Kathy Knox k.knox@griffith.edu.au

Research topic title:

Role of the Central Executive in Children's Arithmetic

Description

This research investigates the role of central executive processing in procedural and conceptual skill in arithmetic addition among 5- to 9-year-old children. Measures based on three different conceptualisations of the central executive: simultaneous storage and processing, relational processing, and inhibition, were administered. To assess procedural skill, children solved addition problems in which task demands were manipulated in ways that reflect the three conceptualisations of executive processing. Then relations between arithmetic performance (accuracy, response times) and individual differences in simultaneous storage and processing, relational processing, and inhibition were examined. Conceptual knowledge was assessed using quantitative and qualitative methods, and relations with executive processing were examined. The research extends previous studies by (i) examining both procedural and conceptual skill (ii) operationalising executive processing in three ways and (iii) combining experimental and correlational paradigms. Findings can be applied to developing interventions for children experiencing mathematical difficulties.

Supervisors

Dr Glenda Andrews (Principal) / Dr Michelle Hood (Associate)