Domain-General And Domain-Specific Cognitive Factors: A Longitudinal Study In Early Pre-School For The Identification Of Children At Risk Of Mathematics Difficulties

The early assessment of cognitive skills at the basis of mathematical learning is a tool functional to the identification of children at risk of difficulties. Moving in this direction, the present longitudinal study, conducted during the first year of preschool, aims to investigate the role of some domain-general (verbal and visuo-spatial Working Memory and selective attention) and domain-specific (counting, digit recognition, and Approximate Number System acuity) cognitive precursors in both predicting the mathematical competence and identifying children at risk in a sample of 153 participants. The results, that reveal a significant contribution of both general and specific skills, are discussed in terms of clinical implications.