title: Mathematical abilities of preschool children as measured by the aptitude test for school beginners.
abstract: The domain of preschool testing has received considerable attention in recent years. This study investigated which mathematical tasks are found most difficult at preschool level for boys and girls of two separate age groups, which tasks indicate a developmental tendency and which differentiate between the sexes. A sample of 60 children (30 boys and 30 girls) aged 5 yr., 6 mo. to 5 yr., 11 mo. were included as well as a sample of 60 children (30 boys and 30 girls) aged 6 yr., 0 mo. to 6 yr., 5 mo. The items referring to the basic arithmetic operations (+, -, x, divided by) were encountered as most difficult, certain items clearly indicated developmental changes, and no items differed significantly in difficulty for boys and girls of the same age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, Republic of South Africa.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oosthuizen
mesh_terms: D001076:Aptitude; D001077:Aptitude Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D011594:Psychometrics; D013019:South Africa