Intergenerational Features of Math Skills: Symbolic and Non-Symbolic Magnitude Comparison and Written Calculation in Mothers and Children

In this article, we analyze symbolic and non-symbolic numerical abilities of parents in order to understand whether these are predictors of children’s numerical skills, considering basic symbolic, non-symbolic, and formal math skills (i.e., written calculation). A battery of cognitive and math tasks was administered to a sample of 83 children with established formal school experience (i.e., fourth and fifth grade students), and to their mothers. Correlational and regression analyses were performed. The results evidenced significant relationships between children’s and mothers’ symbolic and math skills, but children’s symbolic comparison skills were the most significant predictor of their math skills. The study suggests that the intergenerational features of math skills play a significant role in children’s numerical development but that children’s math skills ultimately depend mainly on their own numerical processing. Within an educational perspective, the development of symbolic number skills in children is crucial and might allow the constraints of intergenerational transmission of math skills to be reduced.