Longitudinal and cross-sectional perspectives on elementary school children's post-error slowing in reading and arithmetic

This study investigated the development of primary school children’s error-related adjustments in reading and arithmetic. N = 622 children from 2nd and 4th grade were tested on two tablet-based academic tasks twice in six months: an arithmetic task composed of addition and doubling items with two answer options and a silent word reading task matching words with four pictorial answer options. Children in both grades showed robust post-error slowing (PES) in both reading and arithmetic, indicating reliable monitoring and strategy use in the form of upregulating cognitive control mechanisms. Overall, post-error slowing was larger in arithmetic than in reading, independent of grade and measurement point. Fourth graders showed larger PES than 2nd graders, especially at T1, and both grades’ PES increased from T1 to T2, suggesting that task experience, improving monitoring skills, and strategy discovery play an important role. In terms of the benefits of PES for performance accuracy, PES was linked to better accuracy after the error in the arithmetic task, particularly for younger children. This was not the case for reading. Results are discussed in terms of often overlooked educationally relevant strategies in arithmetic, possible strategy’s utilization deficiency, developing monitoring and cognitive control skills in this age range and differing processing demands across academic domains.