The Role of Executive Functions for Structure-Mapping in Mathematics

Comparing analogs is a key recommendation in mathematics instruction, but successful structure-mapping may impose high demands on children’s executive functions (EF). We examine the role of individual differences in EF resources on learning from an everyday mathematics video-lesson placing a particular strain on children’s cognitive resources: comparing three analogs presented sequentially. Specifically, we examine the separate contributions of working memory (WM) and inhibitory control (IC) on successful schemaformation. Overall, WM and IC explained distinct variance for predicting improvements in procedural knowledge, procedural flexibility, and conceptual knowledge after a 1week delay. WM & IC are less predictive at immediate posttest, suggesting that these functions are not simply correlated with mathematics skill, but may be particularly important in the process of structure-mapping for durable schemaformation. These results inform the literature on both analogy and mathematics learning, extending previous findings implicating EFs as key for successful structure-mapping to an ecologically valid learning context.