Mathematics skills in good readers with hydrocephalus.
Children with hydrocephalus have poor math skills. We investigated the nature of their arithmetic computation errors by comparing written subtraction errors in good readers with hydrocephalus, typically developing good readers of the same age, and younger children matched for math level to the children with hydrocephalus. Children with hydrocephalus made more procedural errors (although not more fact retrieval or visual-spatial errors) than age-matched controls; they made the same number of procedural errors as younger, math-level matched children. We also investigated a broad range of math abilities, and found that children with hydrocephalus performed more poorly than age-matched controls on tests of geometry and applied math skills such as estimation and problem solving. Computation deficits in children with hydrocephalus reflect delayed development of procedural knowledge. Problems in specific math domains such as geometry and applied math, were associated with deficits in constituent cognitive skills such as visual spatial competence, memory, and general knowledge.
Barnes
Marcia A
MA
Psychology Department, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. mbarnes@sickkids.on.ca
Pengelly
Sarah
S
Dennis
Maureen
M
Wilkinson
Margaret
M
Rogers
Tracey
T
Faulkner
Heather
H
D000367:Age Factors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D003071:Cognition; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D011932:Reading