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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mariuche Rodrigues de Almeida Gomides
Format: Artículo científico
Language:en
Published: Associação Neurologia Cognitiva e do Comportamento 2021
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Online Access:https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=339581528014
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Table of Contents:
  • The quandary of diagnosing mathematical difficulties in a generally low performing population Mariuche Rodrigues de Almeida Gomides Isabella Starling-Alves Giulia Moreira Paiva Leidiane da Silva Caldeira Ana Luíza Pedrosa Neves Aichinger Maria Raquel Santos Carvalho Julia Bahnmueller Korbinian Moeller Júlia Beatriz Lopes-Silva Vitor Geraldi Haase Medicina diagnosis dyscalculia mathematics learning disabilities Brazilian students’ mathematical achievement was repeatedly observed to fall below average levels of mathematical attainment in international studies such as PISA. Objective: In this article, we argue that this general low level of mathematical attainment may interfere with the diagnosis of developmental dyscalculia when a psychometric criterion is used establishing an arbitrary cut-off (e.g., performance<percentile 10) may result in misleading diagnoses. Methods: Therefore, the present study evaluated the performance of 706 Brazilian school children from 3rd to 5th grades on basic arithmetic operations addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Results: In line with PISA results, children presented difficulties in all arithmetic operations investigated. Even after five years of formal schooling, less than half of 5th graders performed perfectly on simple addition, subtraction, or multiplication problems. Conclusions: As such, these data substantiate the argument that the sole use of a psychometric criterion might not be sensible to diagnose dyscalculia in the context of a generally low performing population, such as Brazilian children of our sample. When the majority of children perform poorly on the task at hand, it is hard to distinguish atypical from typical numerical development. As such, other diagnostic approaches, such as Response to Intervention, might be more suitable in such a context. 2021 artículo científico 1980-5764 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=339581528014 en http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=3395 Dementia & Neuropsychologia application/pdf Associação Neurologia Cognitiva e do Comportamento Dementia & Neuropsychologia (Brasil) Num.2 Vol.15