The Influence Of Executive Function On Number Sense Of 4-6-year-old Children

Number Sense is the foundation of preschool children’s early mathematical ability,and it is of great impact on children’s later mathematical achievement.The relationship between executive function as a general cognitive ability and number sense have been discussed by many researches,but there is insufficient researches in the preschool stage.Therefore,this study explored the relationship between components of executive function and components of number sense of 4-6-year-old children.This study also designed a training session of executive function for children and analyzed its effect on number sense development.The current study aims to fully describe the characteristic of preschool children’s executive function and number sense and the relationship between executive function and number sense.This reseach was divided into two studies.Study 1 aimed to investigate the relationship between executive function and number sense in children at age of 4-6 in S city.The characteristic of preschool children’s executive function was measured by classic test paradigm of executive function,including three components(inhibition control,working memory and cognitive flexibility).“Concise Numbers Test”(Jordan)was used to measure the performance of children’s number sense,including counting,number knowledge and number combination.Then correlation between executive function and number sense was analyzed.Furthermore,structure equation model was applied to get the structural relationship between executive function and number sense.Based on the result of study 1,study 2 designed a executive function training task for preschool students.Through 4 weeks of executive function training,the effect of training on children’s executive function and number sense was tested.The results are as follows:(1)The executive function and each component of children at the age of 4-6 shows a continuous development.(2)The number sense of children aged 4-6 shows a continuous development trend in the overall and partial components,but the performance of the counting is stable.(3)There is no significant gender difference in the development of executive function and number sense among children at the age of 4-6.(4)There is a significant correlation between executive function and number sense of children aged 4-6,and executive function affects number sense development by single latent construct.(5)Executive function training effectively improved children’s executive function and the number sense,which shows the causal relationship between two.In conclusion,there is a significant correlation between executive function and number sense at the age of 4-6.Executive function training can improved the development of children’s number sense.Therefore,attach importance to the connection between executive function and number sense,enrich the content of early mathematical education;To better promote the overall development of preschool children by developing executive function activitives.