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Mary Wagner, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, received a $702,643 National Science Foundation grant to help preschoolers improve their math skills in preparation for math instruction in elementary classrooms.

The five-year research grant will have Wagner working with Elizabeth Gunderson, an Indiana University professor of psychology. The full grant, totaling $2,489,778, will fund three studies to examine how children between the ages of 3 and 5 begin learning mathematical concepts, and how that information can be used to prevent them from falling behind when learning math at later stages of their schooling. 

While any child can struggle with math, those difficulties can be exacerbated for children in under-resourced schools and communities, Wagner said. Her research focuses on helping young children from those environments — many of whom lack access to high-quality, early learning resources — be more prepared when they get to kindergarten, and beyond.

Wagner’s past studies, along with other early childhood development research, show young children can have difficulty distinguishing between numerical and spatial concepts, or magnitudes. For example, if they see three elephants and six mice, they might say there are more elephants than mice because the elephants are larger in size.

“They’re just trying to figure out their world,” Wagner said. “As a developmental psychologist, it helps to better understand what processes they’re using. If we can identify those processes, it can give educators tools to help children better understand number concepts before they’re in a formal setting.”

Wagner found that children’s early ability to pay attention to numbers and not be distracted by size, color or shape — called flexible attention to magnitudes — helped predict future math achievement. 

Through the NSF grant, she’ll build on her past research with this study of whether interventions could improve young children’s flexible attention to magnitudes, and if that improvement will affect their future mathematics achievement. She’ll also study whether the children’s socioeconomic status impacts the development of that skill and future ability to succeed in math in school.