We know what stops you from thinking forever: A metacognitive perspective

This commentary addresses omissions in De Neys’ model of fast-and-slow thinking from a metacognitive perspective. We review well-established meta-reasoning monitoring (e.g., confidence) and control processes (e.g., rethinking) that explain mental effort-regulation. Moreover, we point to individual, developmental and task design considerations that affect this regulation. These core issues are completely ignored or mentioned in passing in the target article.</p

Idiom and proverb processing in autism: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Figurative language processing impairments in autism have been widely demonstrated, and have been considered a defining feature of autism. Studies in this area often consider different types of figurative language together, and less attention has been paid to identifying the factors that might contribute to difficulties in processing specific types of figurative language. Here we present a preregistered systematic review and meta-analysis of studies assessing the comprehension of idioms and proverbs in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as compared to typically developing (TD) individuals. Idioms are widely used multi-word figurative expressions, which are understood by using contextual information. Proverbs are a related type of fixed, figurative, formulaic expression in a sentential form, typically linked with wisdom. Idioms and proverbs represent forms of figurative language which are more conventionalized and frequently opaquer than metaphors, pointing to a unique way that they are processed in conversational contexts. Our analysis encompassed a total of 11 studies from 10 papers (involving 235 autistic and 224 TD individuals), which met our inclusion criteria (the ASD and TD groups were matched on both chronological age and intelligence). The analysis of accuracy data revealed a group difference favouring the TD over the ASD group, with a medium effect size, and no indication of a publication bias. Participants’ age was unrelated to the magnitude of group differences, but there was a trend for smaller group differences in the case of participants with higher (verbal) intelligence. We discuss these findings with reference to theories related to the nature of figurative language impairments in autism

The link between transitive reasoning and mathematics achievement in preadolescence: the role of relational processing and deductive reasoning

The link between logic and mathematics has been recognized by theorists from different fields, but empirical investigations on this link remain scarce, and even less is known about the mechanisms underlying such a link. The current study aimed to address this issue by investigating the relations between transitive reasoning and children’s mathematical competence, and exploring the potential mechanisms involved. A sample of 101 sixth graders were assessed on their transitive reasoning skills, their mathematics achievement, various potential mediators, as well as general cognitive factors (serving as control variables). The results showed that children’s transitive reasoning performance was significantly related to their mathematics achievement beyond the effects of general cognitive factors, and this relation was mediated by fraction knowledge and Relation to Operands understanding. The findings not only confirmed the relation between transitive reasoning and mathematical competence, but also shed light on the mechanisms underlying such a relation

Metaphor processing in autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Impairments related to figurative language understanding have been considered to be one of the diagnostic and defining features of autism. Metaphor comprehension and production in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as compared to typically developing (TD) individuals have been investigated for around thirty years, generally showing an overall advantage for TD groups. We present a preregistered systematic review and meta-analysis including a total of 15 studies that fulfilled our set of inclusion criteria (notably, ASD and TD groups matched in chronological age and verbal- or full-scale IQ). Along with accuracy, we also analyzed group differences in reaction time in the studies that reported them. The results revealed a medium-to-large group difference favoring TD over ASD groups based on accuracy measures, as well as a similar overall advantage for TD groups based on reaction times. There was reliable heterogeneity in effect sizes for group differences in accuracy, which was mostly explained by the effect of verbal intelligence, with differences in metaphor processing being smaller for participants with better verbal skills. Some of the variation in effect sizes may also be attributed to differences in types of metaphor processing tasks. We also evaluated the quality of the studies included in the meta-analysis, and the evidence relating to the potential presence of publication bias

Basic symbolic number skills, but not formal mathematics performance, longitudinally predict mathematics anxiety in the first years of primary school

Mathematical anxiety (MA) and mathematics performance typically correlate negatively in studies of adolescents and adults, but not always amongst young children, with some theorists questioning the relevance of MA to mathematics performance in this age group. Evidence is also limited in relation to the developmental origins of MA and whether MA in young children can be linked to their earlier mathematics performance. To address these questions, the current study investigated whether basic and formal mathematics skills around 4 and 5 years of age were predictive of MA around the age of 7–8. Additionally, we also examined the cross-sectional relationships between MA and mathematics performance in 7–8-year-old children. Specifically, children in our study were assessed in their first (T1; aged 4–5), second (T2; aged 5–6), and fourth years of school (T3; aged 7–8). At T1 and T2, children completed measures of basic numerical skills, IQ, and working memory, as well as curriculum-based mathematics tests. At T3, children completed two self-reported MA questionnaires, together with a curriculum-based mathematics test. The results showed that MA could be reliably measured in a sample of 7–8-year-olds and demonstrated the typical negative correlation between MA and mathematical performance (although the strength of this relationship was dependent on the specific content domain). Importantly, although early formal mathematical skills were unrelated to later MA, there was evidence of a longitudinal relationship between basic early symbolic number skills and later MA, supporting the idea that poorer basic numerical skills relate to the development of MA.</p

The role of numerical and non-numerical ordering abilities in mathematics and reading in middle childhood

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. This study investigated whether different types of ordering skills were related to mathematics achievement in children (n = 100) in middle childhood, after the effects of age, socio-economic status, IQ, and processing speed were taken into account. The relations between ordering skills and magnitude processing were also investigated, as well as the possibility that some of the shared variance between math and reading is explained by ordering abilities. The ordering tasks included the ordering of familiar numerical and non-numerical sequences, a parental report of children's everyday ordering skills, and an order working memory task. Three magnitude processing tasks (symbolic and non-symbolic comparison and number line estimation), were also administered, as well as measures of inhibition and spatial working memory. From this set of measures, number ordering, order working memory and number line estimation emerged as the most important predictors of mathematics skills. We found that number ordering mediated the effect of both symbolic and non-symbolic comparison skills on mathematics, further confirming that this task captures some essential skills related to mathematics. Additionally, order working memory mediated the effect of both number comparison and reading skills on math. Finally, whereas non-symbolic comparison and number line estimation are considered important indicators of magnitude processing skills, there was no relationship between these abilities, but there was a correlation between each of these abilities and reading skills, with number line estimation also mediating the effect of reading skills on math. These novel findings could contribute to a better understanding of the basic processes underlying math ability, and why math and reading are strongly related in typical populations and in children with learning difficulties

Math anxiety interferes with learning novel mathematics contents in early elementary school

Whereas some evidence exists that math anxiety may interfere with math performance from the very beginning of primary school, no study to date has attempted to investigate whether math anxiety may also interfere with early math learning (i.e., the encoding of new math knowledge) and not only with recalling already mastered contents in test situations. Across 2 experiments carried out in 2 different countries (Study 1: N = 115, conducted in Italy; Study 2: N = 120, conducted in the United Kingdom), we addressed this question by presenting 6-year-old children with 2 math contents that had not been covered by their school curriculum before the study. Children were tested immediately before and immediately after the learning phase, and after a 1-week delay. Longitudinal models revealed that math anxiety was negatively related to initial level of knowledge in the case of 3 out of 4 math contents. More importantly, math anxiety was also negatively related to rate of learning in 2 out of 4 tasks (1 task in Study 1 and 1 in Study 2). These studies provide the first evidence that math anxiety may reduce the encoding of novel math contents in memory in very young children, potentially leading to cumulative gaps in math proficiency for children with math anxiety from the very beginning of their formal education

The causal role of numerical and non-numerical order processing abilities in the early development of mathematics skills: evidence from an intervention study

Understanding the basis of mathematical development is essential for supporting mathematics learning and to develop efficient interventions for remediating early problems. In the past decade, evidence has accumulated in support of the importance of ordering skills (i.e., tasks that tap into children's ability to recall the order of items or to judge the correctness of the order of items) in predicting early mathematics performance. Nevertheless, so far these studies have only provided correlational evidence, and intervention studies are lacking. The aim of the current study was to fill this gap by investigating the potential causal role of three types of ordering abilities (number ordering, daily event ordering and order working memory) in the development of mathematics skills during the first year of primary school. Children participated in six brief training sessions over a three-week period, and their mathematics skills and mathematics anxiety were measured before and after the training. In addition to the three training conditions, an active control group was also involved, with children completing reading comprehension exercises. Our findings showed that children's performance improved substantially on all ordering tasks as a result of training. Additionally, training in daily event ordering and number ordering has led to large increases in children's formal mathematics skills. Mathematics anxiety was not affected by the interventions. The current results provide initial evidence for the usefulness of order processing training in developing children's early mathematics skills. They also show that these results are not specific to the domain of numerical ordering.</p

Data from an international multi-centre study of statistics and mathematics anxieties and related variables in university students (the SMARVUS dataset)

This large, international dataset contains survey responses from N = 12,570 students from 100 universities in 35 countries, collected in 21 languages. We measured anxieties (statistics, mathematics, test, trait, social interaction, performance, creativity, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of negative evaluation), self-efficacy, persistence, and the cognitive reflection test, and collected demographics, previous mathematics grades, self-reported and official statistics grades, and statistics module details. Data reuse potential is broad, including testing links between anxieties and statistics/mathematics education factors, and examining instruments’ psychometric properties across different languages and contexts. Data and metadata are stored on the Open Science Framework website [https://osf.io/mhg94/]