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Early childhood mathematical development: the association between patterning and proportional reasoning

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Abstract

Insight into early precursors of proportional reasoning is necessary to further our theoretical understanding of mathematical development and to guide early interventions. Although several researchers have suggested patterning as a possible precursor for proportional reasoning, there is little empirical evidence to support this assumption, particularly at a young age. To address this gap, the current study explored if patterning in 4- to 5-year-olds (n = 346) is associated with proportional reasoning one and a half years later. Two measures of patterning ability (repeating and growing patterns) and two measures of proportional reasoning (one with discrete quantities and one with a discrete and a continuous quantity) were administered, together with measures addressing general cognitive and numerical abilities. Regression analyses showed that patterning is a unique predictor of proportional reasoning ability over and above sex and general cognitive and numerical abilities. An interaction effect between pattern types and the nature of the quantities was observed: Performance on repeating patterns was uniquely related to performance on proportional reasoning with two discrete quantities, whereas performance on growing patterns was uniquely related to performance on proportional reasoning with a discrete and a continuous quantity. Theoretical implications and suggestions for future studies are discussed.

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Data is available for peer review on Open Science Network (https://osf.io/znws6/?view_only=d4fc989c50124edfb09912b6f8d46f5f).

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Funding

This work was supported by the Research Fund KU Leuven under Grant C1/16/001.

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  1. Centre for Instructional Psychology and Technology, University of Leuven, Dekenstraat 2 box 3773, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Elien Vanluydt, Nore Wijns, Joke Torbeyns & Wim Van Dooren

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  1. Elien Vanluydt
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Vanluydt, E., Wijns, N., Torbeyns, J. et al. Early childhood mathematical development: the association between patterning and proportional reasoning. Educ Stud Math 107, 93–110 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-020-10017-w

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