Name: multimedia battery for assessment of cognitive and basic skills in mathematics (bm-proma)
Uploaded: 2021-08-28T14:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Multimedia Battery for Assessment of Cognitive and Basic Skills in Mathematics BM-PROMA at JoVE.com

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Spanish government through its Plan Nacional I+D+i (R+D+i National Research Plan, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness), project ref: PET2008_0225, with the second author as principal investigator; and CONICYT-Chile [FONDECYT REGULAR N&#186; 1191589], with the first author as principal investigator. We also thank the Unidad de Audiovisuales ULL team for their participation in the production of the video.

This protocol was conducted in accordance with the guidelines provided by the Comit&#233; de &#201;tica de la Investigaci&#243;n y Bienestar Animal (Research Ethics and Animal Welfare Committee, CEIBA), Universidad de La Laguna.
NOTE: The Bater&#237;a multimedia para la evaluaci&#243;n de habilidades cognitivas y b&#225;sicas en matem&#225;ticas [Multimedia Battery for Assessment of Cognitive and Basic Skills in Mathematics (BM-PROMA)]61 was developed ...

Children with MLD are at risk not only of academic failure but also of psycho-emotional and health disorders8,9 and, later on, of employment deprivation4,5. Thus, it is crucial to diagnose MLD promptly in order to provide the educational support that these children need. However, diagnosing MLD is complex due to the multiple domain-specific and domain-general skill deficits that underlie the disorder<sup ...

One of the crucial objectives of primary education is the acquisition of mathematical skills. This knowledge is highly relevant, as we all use mathematics in our everyday lives, for example, to calculate change given at the supermarket1,2. As such, the consequences of poor mathematical performance go beyond the academic. At the social level, a strong prevalence of poor mathematical performance within the population constitutes a cost to society. There is evidence that improvement of poor numerical skills in the population leads to significant savings for a country3. There are also negative consequences at an individual level. For example, those who show a low level of mathematical skills present poor professional development (e.g., higher rates of employment in poorly paid manual occupations and higher unemployment)4,5,6, frequently report negative socio-emotional responses towards academics (e.g., anxiety, low motivation towards academics)7, 8, and tend to present poorer mental and physical health than their peers with average mathematical achievement9. Students with mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) show very poor performance that persists over time10,11,12. As such, they are more likely to suffer the consequences mentioned above, especially if these are not promptly diagnosed13.
MLD is a neurobiological disorder characterized by severe impairment in terms of learning basic numerical skills despite adequate intellectual capacity and schooling14. Although this definition is widely accepted, the instruments and criteria for its identification are still under discussion15. An excellent illustration of the absence of a universal agreement regarding MLD diagnosis is the variety of reported prevalence rates, ranging from 3 to 10%16,17,18,19,20,21. This difficulty in diagnosis stems from the complexity of mathematical knowledge, which requires that a combination of multiple domain-general and domain-specific skills be learned22,23. Children with MLD show very different cognitive profiles, with a broad constellation of deficits14, 24,25,26,27. In this regard, it is suggested that the need for multidimensional assessment by means of tasks involving different numerical representations (i.e., verbal, Arabic, analogic) and arithmetical skills11.
In primary school, symptoms of MLD are diverse. In terms of domain-specific skills, it is consistently found that many MLD students show difficulties in basic numerical skills, such as quickly and accurately recognizing Arabic numerals28,29,30, comparing magnitudes31,32, or representing numbers on the number line33,34. Primary school children have also shown difficulty in understanding conceptual knowledge, such as place value35, arithmetic knowledge36, or ordinality measured through ordered sequences37. Regarding domain-general skills, particular focus has been put on the role of working memory38,39 and language40 in the development of mathematical skills in children with and without MLD. In relation to working memory, the results suggest that students with MLD show a deficit in the central executive, especially when required to manipulate numerical information41,42. A deficit in visuospatial short-term memory has also been frequently reported in children with MLD43,44. Language skills have been found to be a prerequisite for learning numeracy skills, especially those that involve high verbal processing demand7. For example, phonological processing skills [e.g., phonological awareness and Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN)] are closely linked to those basic skills learned in primary school, such as numerical processing or arithmetic calculation39,45,46,47. Here, it has been demonstrated that variations in phonological awareness and RAN are associated with individual differences in numeracy skills that involve managing verbal code42,48. In light of the complex profile of children with MLD, a diagnostic tool should ideally include tasks that assess both domain-general and domain-specific skills, which are reported as being more frequently deficient in these children.
In recent years, several paper-and-pencil screening tools for MLD have been developed. Those most commonly used with Spanish primary school children are a) Evamat-Bater&#237;a para la Evaluaci&#243;n de la Competencia Matem&#225;tica (Battery for the Evaluation of Mathematical Competency)49; b) Tedi-Math: A Test for Diagnostic Assessment of Mathematical Disabilities (Spanish adaptation)50; c) Test de Evaluaci&#243;n Matem&#225;tica Temprana de Utrecht (TEMT-U)51,52, the Spanish version of the Utrecht Early Numeracy Test53; and d) Test of early math abilities (TEMA-3)54. These instruments measure many of the domain-specific skills mentioned above; however, none of them assess domain-general skills. Another limitation of these instruments - and of paper-and-pencil tools in general - is that they cannot provide information regarding the accuracy and automaticity with which each item is processed. This would only be possible with a computerized battery. However, very few applications have been developed for dyscalculia diagnosis. The first computerized tool designed to identify children (aged 6 to 14) with MLD was the Dyscalculia Screener55. A few years later, the web-based DyscalculiUm56 was developed with the same purpose but focused on adults and learners in post-16 education. Although still limited, there has been growing interest in computerized tool design for the diagnosis of MLD in recent years57,58,59,60. None of the tools mentioned have been standardized for Spanish children, and only one of them - the MathPro Test57- includes domain-general skill evaluation. Given the importance of identifying children with low mathematical achievement, especially those with MLD, and in the absence of computerized instruments for the Spanish population, we present a multimedia evaluation protocol that includes both domain-general and domain-specific skills.

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	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Multimedia Battery for Assessment of Cognitive and Basic Skills in Maths</td>
			<td>Universidad de La Laguna</td>
			<td>Pending assignment</td>
			<td>BM-PROMA</td>
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multimedia battery for assessment of cognitive and basic skills in mathematics (bm-proma)

Learning mathematics is a complex process that requires the development of multiple domain-general and domain-specific skills. It is therefore not unexpected that many children struggle to stay at grade level, and this becomes especially difficult when several abilities from both domains are impaired, as in the case of mathematical learning disabilities (MLD). Surprisingly, although MLD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders affecting schoolchildren, most of the diagnostic instruments available do not include assessment of domain-general and domain-specific skills. Furthermore, very few are computerized. To the best of our knowledge, there is no tool with these features for Spanish-speaking children. The purpose of this study was to describe the protocol for the diagnosis of Spanish MLD children using the BM-PROMA multimedia battery. BM-PROMA facilitates the evaluation of both skill domains, and the 12&#160;tasks included for this purpose are empirically evidence-based. The strong internal consistency of BM-PROMA and its multidimensional internal structure are demonstrated. BM-PROMA proves to be an appropriate tool for diagnosing children with MLD during primary education. It provides a broad cognitive profile for the child, which will be relevant not only for diagnosis but also for individualized instructional planning.

In order to test the utility and effectiveness of this diagnostic tool, its psychometric properties were analyzed in a large-scale sample. A total of 933 Spanish primary school students (boys = 508, girls = 425; Mage = 10 years, SD = 1.36) from grade 2 to grade 6 (grade 2, N = 169 [89 boys]; grade 3, N = 170 [89 boys]; grade 4, N = 187 [106 boys]; grade 5, N = 203 [113 boys]; grade 6, N= 204 [110 boys]) participated in the study. The children were ...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Multimedia Battery for Assessment of Cognitive and Basic Skills in Mathematics BM-PROMA at JoVE.com

Multimedia Battery for Assessment of Cognitive and Basic Skills in Mathematics BM-PROMA

BM-PROMA is a valid and reliable multimedia diagnostic tool that can provide a complete cognitive profile of children with mathematical learning disabilities.

Multimedia Battery for Assessment of Cognitive and Basic Skills in Mathematics (BM-PROMA)

Learning mathematics is a complex process that requires the development of multiple domain-general and domain-specific skills. It is therefore not ...

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