Automatization of Counting Procedures in Children With Dyscalculia

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Researchers in numerical cognition usually think that the greatest and most common difficulty in children suffering from dyscalculia is retrieval of arithmetic facts from long-term memory. However, we have recently shown that retrieval might not be the optimum strategy in mental arithmetic. In fact, expert adults would rather solve simple problems such as 3 + 2 by automated and unconscious procedures. Therefore, we hypothesize that children with dyscalculia might not present deficit in retrieval but, instead, in counting procedure automatization. The aim of the current project is to test this challenging position. Through a longitudinal approach, we plan to precisely examine the behavior of children suffering from dyscalculia over a 3-year period. Children will be aged between 8 to 11 years at the beginning of the study and we will precisely observe the evolution of their solution times when they solve simple addition problems involving one-digit numbers. If children with dyscalculia still struggle with simple additions three years, their solution times plotted on the sum of the problems should still follow an exponential function. Indeed, if counting is not automated, difficulties necessarily increase with the progression on the number line or the verbal sequence, hence the exponential function. On the contrary, if counting procedures tend towards automatization, moves along a number line will progressively become as easy at the beginning of the line as at the end, hence the linear function. Importantly, a retrieval model would predict exactly the inverse pattern because, according to this model, the linear function, which is unanimously considered as the hallmark of counting procedures, should progressively be replaced by a non-linear function through practice.

Official Title
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Automatization of Counting Procedures in Children With Dyscalculia

Conditions
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Dyscalculia

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Arithmetic facts solving


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Age between 8 and 11 years old Having a dyscalculia as described in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) V Exclusion Criteria: Presenting a global intellectual deficit

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 8 Years
Maximum Age: 11 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Other
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Behavioral recording of arithmetic and associated information<br>The experiment will contain several behavioral tasks in which solving time and correct answer will be recorded. The main one will be a computerized task on arithmetic facts. There will also be three additional tasks as described below. | Behavioral: Arithmetic facts solving<br>* The experiment will contain several tasks. The main one will be a computerized task on arithmetic facts where participants will have to solve simple additions. There will also be three additional tasks: a processing speed task where the participant will have to tell the orientation of an arrow as fast as possible, a visuo-spatial task where the participant will have to reproduce a tapping block sequence and an arithmetic task where the participant will try to solve a maximum of operations in a limited time.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Response times to solve an informatics task on simple arithmetic facts resolution | Time between the apparition of the stimuli and the answer. The task contain only addition of one digit numbers | Inclusion | 
| Response times to solve an informatics task on simple arithmetic facts resolution | Time between the apparition of the stimuli and the answer. The task contain only addition | 12 months | 
| Response times to solve an informatics task on simple arithmetic facts resolution | Time between the apparition of the stimuli and the answer. The task contain only addition | 24 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Percentage of correct responses to solve the informatics task on simple arithmetic facts resolution |  | 0+ 12 + 24 months | 
| Result of the digit span memory task |  | 0 month | 
| Processing speed in an informatics task on arrow orientation |  | 0 month | 
| Result of the Corsi block tapping test |  | 0 month | 
| Result of the Tempo Test Rekenen | The Tempo Test Rekenen is used to evaluate arithmetical ability. It consists in solving several operations in a limited time. | 0 month | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Dyscalculia