Summary:
Numerical and mathematic capacity are complex cognitive processes involving the synthesis of distinct cognitive mechanisms to function. To define those mechanisms and the problems that lead to mathematical deficits, the Mathematical Profile & Dyscalculia Test (MathPro Test) was created, and in order to address the limitations of previous tests, it was designed so as to cover a wide range of cognitive processes, to be administered collectively and to be fast to complete. This test is theoretically based on Karagiannakis, Baccaglini-Frank and Papadatos (2014) model, according to which every problem in understanding mathematics could be pertain to deficits related to one of the following domains: the core number domain, the visual-spatial, the memory, or the reasoning domain. The battery includes 18 tasks for assessing the previous four cognitive domains, based on accuracy and reaction time measurements. In order to probe the reliability and validity of the test, it was administered to 1104 students of 1st - 6st grade. The results showed that most of the tasks designed had good internal consistency. The performed factor analysis revealed the factor of memory, number-memory, visual-spatial perception and reasoning, which describe the domains that outline the structure of the test based on performance. The type of metric influenced this grouping. Overall, there was partial correspondence of the tasks to the presumed domains. We observed significant difference in the comparison between typically developing children and mathematically disabled children (i.e., who performed below the 15th percentile in the Mental Calculations task), in most tasks. This result, along with the observed significant effect of school grade, proves the discriminative power of the battery. Finally, there was no observed difference in the performance between genders. In sum, these test result should be considered promising and thus the test could function as basis for developing advanced diagnostic tools for detecting specific cognitive deficits in children with mathematical difficulties.
Keywords:
mathematical capacity, dyscalculia, cognitive domainσ, core number domain, visual-spatial, memory, reasoning
