Abstract
We examined longitudinal relations between 1(st)-grade cognitive predictors (early nonverbal reasoning, processing speed, listening comprehension, working memory, calculation skill, word-problem solving, word-reading fluency, attentive behavior, and numerical cognition) and 2(nd)-grade academic outcomes (calculations, word-problem solving, and word reading) in 370 children (M (age) = 6.55 years, SD (age) = 0.33 years at the start of the study) who were identified as at-risk or not-at-risk for mathematics disability. Path analysis mediation models revealed that numerical cognition, assessed at an intermediary timepoint, mediated the effects of processing speed, working memory, calculation skill, word-problem solving, and attentive behavior on all 3 outcomes. Findings indicate that multiple early domain-general cognitive abilities are related to later mathematics and reading outcomes and that numerical cognition processes, which may track ease of forming symbol-concept associations, predict later performance across both academic domains.