DEVELOPMENTAL DYSCALCULIA: A STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS AND MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

Several studies have investigated the relationship between mathematical learning and executive functions in children with typical development (St Clair-Thompson, Stevens, Hunt, & Bolder, 2010; Schmerold, Bock, Peterson, Leaf, Vennergrund, & Pasnak, 2017). This research, instead, was aimed at investigating the relationships among short-term memory, working memory, and numerical knowledge and calculation skills in dyscalculic children. The study was carried out on a sample of 52 first-grade secondary school students diagnosed with developmental dyscalculia. Participants were administered with the Developmental Dyscalculia Battery 2 (BDE-2), the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children IV (WISC-IV), the Verbal Span test and the Corsi Span test. Results showed significant correlations between working memory and numerical knowledge and between speed of processing and calculation skills, whereas no significant differences were found with respect to gender. Results also showed a positive correlation between mathematical skills and children’s age. No significant differences were found on executive functions. This could be due to the fact that mathematical performances are only partially predicted by cognitive variables