Flexible Attention to Magnitudes and Early Math
Condition: Mathematics Abilities
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The goal of this clinical trial is to test the malleability of preschool-aged children's
      flexible attention to numerical and spatial magnitudes. The main questions it aims to answer
      are: Does a flexible attention to magnitudes intervention improve young children's math
      abilities in the area of flexible attention to magnitudes as well as executive functioning
      and number line estimation skills? Does this intervention improve young children's math
      abilities more than a traditional counting intervention? "Does the method of flexible
      attention to magnitudes intervention affect how much children improve in their math
      abilities?

      Participants will complete a pre-test and post-test in their math abilities and three
      intervention sessions with a trained experimenter. Each intervention session will involve
      reading researcher-created books with one-on-one with children for about 20 minutes. Children
      will be assigned to one of four intervention conditions:

        -  Size to Number Intervention Condition

        -  Size and Number Mixed Intervention Condition

        -  Traditional Counting Intervention

        -  Non-Numerical Control Intervention
    

Detailed description: 
      This experiment will test the following hypothesis: Children's flexible attention to
      magnitudes (FAM) ability is malleable and can be developed through innovative interventions.
      The experiment will include a clinical trial to assess the feasibility of a future clinical
      intervention to improve children's FAM ability for children at-risk for math difficulties.

      Participants. Using results from recent number book interventions (ηp2 = .094; Gibson,
      Gunderson, & Levine, under review), an estimated sample size of 116 preschool-aged children
      (3 - 5 years old), or 29 children per group, will be recruited. An additional 8 participants
      will be recruited to account for any possible attrition during the course of the experiment.

      Method and Analyses. Children will be randomly assigned to one of 4 conditions: Size to
      Number condition, Mixed condition, or one of two control conditions - a Traditional Counting
      condition or an Non-Numerical Control condition. In each condition, children will complete a
      pre-test, followed by three intervention sessions with an experimenter, then a post-test. All
      assessments and intervention sessions will be completed in a one-on-one setting with an
      experimenter in a quiet area of the child's childcare center or school. Each condition will
      involve playing a game on a tablet with an experimenter, and the premise of each game will be
      children going to the zoo. All stimuli for conditions will be created by the University of
      Dayton computer engineering students in their research and design course. The stimuli for the
      Size to Number and Mixed conditions will be identical where all trials are incongruent with
      respect to numerical and spatial magnitudes across sets, but the ordering of instructions and
      item presentation will differ. In the Size to Number condition, children will view two sets
      of animals, each enclosed by a box, and will be asked to indicate which set has bigger
      animals. Children will then switch to a condition in which they are asked to switch and
      indicate which set has more animals, with 10 trials for both the number and size conditions.
      Children will receive feedback on each trial. In the Mixed condition, children will receive
      20 trials in which size and number trials are intermixed. In the Traditional Counting
      condition, children will only see congruent numerical and spatial magnitudes, in other words,
      sets where the object set with more items will also have larger items and the set with fewer
      items will also have smaller items. Children will be asked to compare these sets, and
      feedback will be given. Finally, in the Non-Numerical Control condition, children will see
      various animals on each trial and will be asked to give the animal's name and sound.

      An ANCOVA will be used to analyze participant data, with the 4 conditions as the
      between-subjects variable, and covariates will include children's pre-test, age, gender, and
      language. The investigator expects to find that both the Size to Number and Mixed conditions
      will produce higher FAM post-test scores compared to the Traditional Counting and
      Non-Numerical Control conditions, but do not have a specific prediction as to whether or not
      the Size to Number or Mixed conditions will outperform one another. The assessments
      administered at pre- and post-test will include the FAM task, and the investigator will also
      explore possible transfer effects to children's executive functioning skills and their number
      line estimation abilities.
    

Intervention name(s): Book Reading Intervention
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Children read books containing relevant stimuli.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Basic Science