| Studies of the mathematical abilities and working memory qualities of gifted and normal children are presented. Study 1 assessed 217 lst , 3rd, or 5th grade with measures of IQ, reading and mathematics achievement, working memory, counting knowledge, and addition skills. It was found that working memory contributed to addition skills in early grades, whereas IQ contributed in later grades. Study 2 assessed a single group of 296 K-1st grade children with measures of IQ, reading and math achievement, three components of working memory, rapid automatized naming, numerical estimation (numberline), counting knowledge, number sets, and addition strategy choice and execution. Gifted children showed advantages for the majority of tasks, and many of these advantages appeared to be related to enhanced working memory. Follow up analyses suggest gifted and normal children may use different working memory systems to solve the same mathematical problem. |
