Math Disabilities: A Selective Meta-Analysis of the Literature

Abstract

This article synthesizes published literature comparing the cognitive functioning of children who have math disabilities (MD) with that of (a) average-achieving children; (b) children who have reading disabilities (RD); and (c) children who have comorbid disabilities (MD+RD). Average achievers outperformed children with MD on measures of verbal problem solving, naming speed, verbal working memory (WM), visual-spatial WM, and long-term memory (LTM). Children with MD outperformed comorbid children on measures of literacy, visual-spatial problem solving, LTM, short-term memory (STM) for words, and verbal WM. Children with MD could be differentiated from children with RD only on naming speed and visual-spatial WM. Differences in cognitive functioning between children with MD and average achievers were related primarily to verbal WM when the effects of all other variables (e.g., age, IQ, and other domain categories) were partialed out.