De Relatie Tussen Getalbegrip en Executieve Functies bij Kinderen in Groep 3 tot en met Groep 6

Abstract

The aim of this study was to verify whether there is a positive relationship between executive functions (EF) and number sense (NS) and how this relationship would develop during elementary school. Research was conducted on a group of 123 children from elementary school in grades three to six. Results showed that symbolic NS has a positive relationship with both inhibition and shifting. Furthermore, there was a positive relationship between shifting and mapping, and between updating and nonsymbolic NS. Symbolic NS and mapping increased throughout grades three till six, nonsymbolic NS does not. All EF increased throughout grades three till six. However, looked at the development of the relationship between EF and NS with composite variables (mean of three subtests) the data only showed a relationship between EF and NS in grade five. The relationship in grade five did not significantly differ from the other grades. When looked at EF and symbolic NS we found positive relationships in every group. We did not find relationships between EF and nonsymbolic NS and EF and mapping. The groups significantly differed from each other on symbolic NS and mapping. We found medium to large effect sizes when looking at the relationship between EF and NS, which confirms other research. Also, we found an influence of age on the relationship between EF and NS. Limitations of this study were a small sample size, possibility of restriction of range and the impurity problem. Further research should focus on the development of EF and NS across age.