David Geary
University of Missouri-Columbia, MO·Psychology
Long before kindergarten, children differ widely in how well they understand basic number ideas. One example is cardinality, the idea that the last number counted tells how many there are.
- Fields
Psychology
Education Research
- Topics
mathematical cognition
early math development
numeracy
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Apr 2027
What they work on
- Track the longitudinal development of core number knowledge, such as cardinality and counting, in preschoolers to identify early signs of school math readiness and math learning disability risk.
- Assess the numeracy-related home environment, including parents' directly measured math achievement and the complexity of parent-child math talk, as it relates to preschoolers' number development.
- Measure preschool classroom engagement and the complexity of math instruction using teacher reports and direct observation, and relate these to children's early math growth.
- Test child-evocative effects, such as whether children's number knowledge predicts later changes in the complexity of parent-child number talk.
More about the research
These early differences predict how ready children are for school math and their risk of a math learning disability (LD). Programs aimed only at the child narrow these gaps, but the gains tend to fade. This project lays the groundwork for multisystemic interventions that involve the child, parents, the home and the school.
Why it matters
Poor math skills limit education and job opportunities and are linked to higher risks of physical and mental health problems. Identifying the home, parent, classroom and child factors behind early math gaps could guide multisystemic interventions. These might better prepare at-risk preschoolers for school math and reduce long-term math difficulties, including math learning disability.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Geetha Ramani
University of Maryland, MD·Education Research
Test whether three-month home-based trainings on math communication, with and without gestures, increase the math talk and gestures used by parents and their preschool-age children during play.
Ece Demir-Lira
University of Iowa, IA·Psychology
Test a serial mediation model in which gestational age at birth affects children's number skills through their verbal skills and then through the brain systems for numbers, measured with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).
Marcia A Barnes
Vanderbilt University, TN·Education Research
Test whether adding coordinated computerized working memory training to standard direct skills math instruction improves word-problem solving, arithmetic, and working memory beyond math instruction alone, in a randomized trial with first graders who have math delays and low working memory.
The school
University of Missouri-Columbia: 21 labs on PI Pages, $509M a year on research, 260 research doctorates a year.
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