Low and High Control Working Memory and Counting Skills in Children

Numerous studies have shown that working memory is a reliable predictor of children's math performance. However, the details of the relationship between children's counting skills and their working memory capacity remain an open question. This study evaluated children's counting skills and verbal, visual, and spatial working memory capacities. We assessed children's counting knowledge through measures of rote counting, one-to-one correspondence, and cardinality. We examined the impact of working memory format and its processing levels on these counting skills using hierarchical regression analysis. The results indicated no contribution of working memory to predicting rote counting or one-to-one correspondence. In contrast, the verbal sequential high-control working memory and route counting were predictors of children's cardinal knowledge. These findings suggest that children's understanding of natural numbers rests in their symbolic knowledge.