ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL PERFORMANCE AND ARITHMETIC PERFORMANCE: A STUDY WITH ELEMENTARY STUDENTS

ABSTRACT: This article aimed at examining the cognitive functions associated with difficulties in arithmetic, with a special focus on a) analyzing the relationship between neuropsychological performance and arithmetic performance in the total sample of each school year; and b) investigating students’ performance in neuropsychological functions, divided according to their performance in arithmetic, for each school year. The participants of this study were 167 students from the 4th and 6th grades of elementary school between the ages of 9 and 12. For the analysis, the main tools used were the scores of the Arithmetic Subtest of the School Performance Test (TDE) and the neuropsychological assessment battery NEUPSILIN-Inf. Pearson correlations were made between the total sample of each school year and the t-test, in order to find differences between the groups of each school year, formed according to the performance of the TDE. The results suggest that the better the arithmetic performance in the TDE, the higher the scores in memory, calculations, and verbal fluency on NEUPSILIN-Inf. Students in the group with arithmetic difficulties had lower scores on the tests, which especially evaluated executive functions and memory. Investments should be made in the future for educational practices that encourage the development of such cognitive functions, in order to prevent arithmetic difficulties.