The Relationship of Cognitive Processes With Reading and Mathematics Achievement in Intellectually Gifted Children

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine whether components of the Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive (PASS) processing theory of intelligence predict reading and mathematics proficiency in a group of intellectually gifted children. One hundred forty-two intellectually gifted children (70 females, 72 males; M_age = 127.41 months, SD = 10.76) were assessed on PASS processes as well as on reading and mathematics. Results of regression analyses showed that planning was a significant predictor of both reading and mathematics. In addition, simultaneous processing predicted mathematics and successive processing predicted reading. These findings suggest that when intelligence is operationalized on the basis of neurocognitive processes it can explain individual differences in academic achievement even among a restricted range of high ability students.

KEYWORDS:

• giftedness
• intelligence
• mathematics
• PASS processes
• reading

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Admittedly, we are not the first ones to examine the role of neurocognitive processes in intellectually gifted children (see e.g., Kalbfleisch, 2008; Kalbfleisch & Gillmarten, 2013, for reviews on the cognitive neuroscience of giftedness). However, previous studies have focused on specific neurocognitive processes instead of contrasting the effects of different neurocognitive processes at once. This becomes possible by using PASS theory (Naglieri & Kaufman, 2001).

2. See Das (2015) for a historical account of PASS theory.

3. Broad Reading is a cluster score derived from Letter-Word Identification, Reading Fluency, and Passage Comprehension in the Woodcock-Johnson test of achievement (see Method section for more information).

4. This is not tied to specific reading tasks.

5. This is not tied to specific mathematics tasks.

6. To attend a gifted education program, children must be coded as gifted (Code 80 under Alberta Education). To be coded as gifted, children must achieve an IQ score equal to or higher than 130 on an intelligence test (most often that is WISC or Stanford-Binet).

7. The Basic Reading cluster consists of Letter-Word Identification and Word Attack subtests, both of which assess reading accuracy. The Passage Comprehension cluster is comprised of Passage Comprehension and Reading Vocabulary subtests, both of which assess comprehension. Thus, choosing Broad Reading allows us to cover all aspects of reading ability (accuracy, fluency, and comprehension).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kristy Dunn

Kristy Dunn is a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta. Her research focuses on the role of executive functions in academic achievement particularly in children identified as gifted. Email: [email protected]

George Georgiou

George Georgiou is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta and the director of the J. P. Das Center on Developmental and Learning Disabilities. His research focuses on the cognitive and noncognitive factors influencing reading development in diverse populations. Email: [email protected]

J. P. Das

J. P. Das is a professor emeritus in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His research focuses on the role of PASS processes in academic achievement as well as on the development of brain-based intelligence tests. Email: [email protected]