Automatization of Counting Procedures in Children With Dyscalculia

NCT03354481 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 69HCL17_06512017-A03134-49
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 3
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

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.

Conditions

Dyscalculia

Keywords

Dyscalculia

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• 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 Outcomes (5)

• 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

  0 month

Study Arms (1)

Behavioral recording of arithmetic and associated information

EXPERIMENTAL

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

Interventions

Arithmetic facts solving BEHAVIORAL

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.

Behavioral recording of arithmetic and associated information

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 8 Years - 11 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Age between 8 and 11 years old
• Having a dyscalculia as described in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) V

You may not qualify if:

• Presenting a global intellectual deficit

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hospices Civils de Lyon: lead
• University of Lausanne: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Hopital Femme Mère Enfant

Bron, France

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Jeanne Bagnoud, Romain Mathieu, Jasinta Dewi, Sandrine Masson, Sibylle Gonzalez-Monge, Zumrut Kasikci and Catherine Thevenot. "An investigation of the possible causes of arithmetic difficulties in children with dyscalculia". L'Année psychologique. 2021;121(3):217-237. doi : 10.3917/anpsy1.213.0217.

  RESULT

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Dyscalculia

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Specific Learning Disorder; Learning Disabilities; Communication Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 20, 2017
• First Posted: November 28, 2017
• Study Start: July 12, 2018
• Primary Completion: September 19, 2019
• Study Completion: September 19, 2019
• Last Updated: April 27, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Locations

FR (1)