title: From "five" to 5 for 5 minutes: Arabic number transcoding as a short, specific, and sensitive screening tool for mathematics learning difficulties.
abstract: Number transcoding (e.g., writing 29 when hearing "twenty-nine") is one of the most basic numerical abilities required in daily life and is paramount for mathematics achievement. The aim of this study is to investigate psychometric properties of an Arabic number-writing task and its capacity to identify children with mathematics difficulties. We assessed 786 children (55% girls) from first to fourth grades, who were classified as children with mathematics difficulties (n = 103) or controls (n = 683). Although error rates were low, the task presented adequate internal consistency (0.91). Analyses revealed effective diagnostic accuracy in first and second school grades (specificity equals to 0.67 and 0.76 respectively, and sensitivity equals to 0.70 and 0.88 respectively). Moreover, items tapping the understanding of place-value syntax were the most sensitive to mathematics achievement. Overall, we propose that number transcoding is a useful tool for the assessment of mathematics abilities in early elementary school.
authors.affiliation: Developmental Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil Programa de Pós-graduação em Neurociências, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil ricardoojm@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moura
authors.affiliation: Developmental Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Júlia Beatriz
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Lopes-Silva
authors.affiliation: Developmental Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Laura Rodrigues
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.affiliation: Developmental Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Giulia Moreira
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Paiva
authors.affiliation: Developmental Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Carolina de Almeida
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Prado
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Karl-Franzens-University of Graz, Graz, Austria BioTechMed-Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Guilherme
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.affiliation: Developmental Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil Programa de Pós-graduação em Neurociências, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vitor Geraldi
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Haase
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D003210:Concept Formation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011340:Problem Solving; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: Mathematics difficulties; Number transcoding; Screening