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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · May 8

- We are currently evaluating the impact of interventions that support mathematical language at the preschool age (including storybook interventions, teacher professional development programs, parent training at home). Stay tuned! (8/8)

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · May 8

- Our data emphasize the critical role of mathematical language in supporting children's mathematical development.

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · May 8

- Our data point to a uni-directional association between mathematical language and mathematical skills. (7/8)

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · May 8

- Mathematical skills did not predict subsequent mathematical language. (6/8)

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · May 8

- We found that mathematical language, particularly spatial language (before, after), uniquely predicted later mathematical skills. This was particularly true for children's numerical competencies and their measurement skills. (5/8)

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · May 8

- We measured children's mathematical language and various mathematical abilities at two time points that were about 8 months apart. (4/8)

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · May 8

- To solve this problem, we collected longitudinal data in 134 children aged 4-5-year-old.

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · May 8

- Less is know about its chicken-and-egg-question. (2/8)

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · May 8

- We know that preschoolers understanding of mathematical language (more, less, few, after) is important for their mathematical development. (1/8)

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · May 8

Correct link here: authors.elsevier.com/a/1k-0a3irP4...

authors.elsevier.com

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · May 8

New from the lab: "From language to mathematics and vice versa?: A longitudinal study on the associations between preschoolers’ mathematical language and mathematical abilities" Free access via this link 👇 lnkd.in/em8CHkQr with Eylül Turan, PhD

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

lnkd.in

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · Feb 14

www.linkedin.com/posts/bert-d...

Bert De Smedt on LinkedIn: #kuleuven #600jaarkuleuven

Benieuwd naar wat wij allemaal aan #KULEUVEN uitspoken. Kom ons zaterdag of zondag bezoeken op #600jaarKULeuven in Huis Jeanne De Vos. Welkom!

www.linkedin.com

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · Mar 28

With the wonderful Floor Vandecruys & Maaike Vandermosten.

Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · Mar 28

This overlap potentially reflects one of their many shared mechanisms (e.g., reliance on phonological codes or the processing of visual symbols) and these mechanisms should be exploited in future studies. (8/8)

Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · Mar 28

These findings suggest that, already before the start of formal schooling, the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus might be related to the neural overlap between mathematics and reading. (7/8)

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · Mar 28

We found an association between the bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus and precursors of mathematics (numerical ordering, numeral knowledge) and reading (phonological awareness, letter knowledge). These association were neither specific to mathematics nor specific to reading. (6/8)

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · Mar 28

Participants were 56 5-year-old children (Mage = 67 months; SD = 1.8), none of which received formal instruction, who all completed tasks that measured precursors of mathematics and reading. (5/8)

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · Mar 28

We investigated for the first time before the start of formal school entry the associations between white matter tracts and precursors of mathematics and reading simultaneously. We also investigated whether these associations were specific to mathematics and to reading, or not. (4/8)

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · Mar 28

Brain imaging studies on mathematics and reading are typically investigated in siloed research field but in view of their strong co-development, we studied them simultaneously in one sample. (3/8)

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · Mar 28

We collected diffusion-weighted brain imaging data in 5-year-olds before they go to school. This was done to study individual differences in brain anatomy and their association with precursors of academic abilities without influences of formal mathematics and reading instruction. (2/8)

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · Mar 28

New from the lab! And 50 day free access here authors.elsevier.com/c/1iqFa2VHYC... – On the association between white matter and precursors of math and reading in 5-year-olds before the start of formal schooling (1/8)

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · Jan 22

It's not too late but the deadline for IMBES/EARLI SIG22 symposium and poster submissions is fast approaching! Check out imbes2024.org. Deadline is February 1st, 2024. Come join us in Leuven!

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Reposted by Bert De Smedt

Jennie Grammer @grammer.bsky.social · Jan 18

Registration and submissions for the 2024 IMBES meeting are both open! You can register at the Early Bird rate until May 1st, 2024 (imbes2024.org/registration/). Abstract submission deadline is February 1st, 2024. Come join us in Leuven!

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Reposted by Bert De Smedt

Nora Newcombe @noranewcombe.bsky.social · Jan 18

I’m going to Leuven too —submit! Join us 😊 #IMBES2024

Jennie Grammer @grammer.bsky.social · Jan 18

Registration and submissions for the 2024 IMBES meeting are both open! You can register at the Early Bird rate until May 1st, 2024 (imbes2024.org/registration/). Abstract submission deadline is February 1st, 2024. Come join us in Leuven!

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Bert De Smedt @bertdesmedt.bsky.social · Jan 5

We are currently focusing on experiments on metacognitive monitoring and control (as operationalizations of cognitive regulation) in academic tasks (not unexpectedly, mathematical ones) at various ages and at multiple levels.

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