Honors Theses

Advisor

Mary Wagner, Ph.D.

Department

Psychology

Publication Date

4-23-2025

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Abstract

The study analyzes how children in early childhood engage with number books and how they influence mathematical abilities such as flexible attention to magnitudes (FAM) and executive functioning. It was hypothesized that the number of books consisting of mathematical language will lead to an increase in math ability. It was also suggested that number books will engage children using mathematical language and real-world settings. 80 participants between the ages of three and five years old recruited from daycare centers and preschools in the Dayton and Bloomington area will complete 6 one-on-one sessions with an experimenter in their school.

The pretest consisted of the following assessments: Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Early Cognitive and Academic Development, Give-N, and FAM task. The intervention involved participants, who were randomly assigned to one of two conditions, completing 4 reading sessions with an experimenter. The mixed condition involved number books with questions about size and number language, while the control condition had questions about special colors. Each condition had a farm and restaurant setting. ANCOVA analysis found there was not a statistical significance between FAM ability and the condition. Therefore, an exploratory analysis was completed suggesting that participants who have high language ability will more likely have high book accuracy and be more engaged during the book interventions.

Permission Statement

This item is protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code) and may only be used for noncommercial, educational, and scholarly purposes.

Keywords

Undergraduate research

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