ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Psychology in Education
The association between visual-spatial skills and preschoolers' arithmetic ability: The mediating role of patterning ability and the moderating role of executive function
Provisionally accepted
- 1Fuyang Normal University, Fuyang, China
- 2Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
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Abstract: As a foundational element of early childhood education, preschoolers' arithmetic ability eases the later arithmetic learning in grades. Nevertheless, the mechanisms underlying young children's arithmetic ability remain unclear. To this end, the present study focuses on the link between visual-spatial skills and arithmetic ability among young children, with a particular emphasis on the mediating role of patterning ability and the moderating role of executive function. The study surveyed 233 preschool children in their final year and their parents in Fuyang, a city in central China, between November and December 2021. Results showed that visual-spatial skills positively correlated with preschoolers' arithmetic ability, that patterning ability partially mediated the link between visual-spatial skills and arithmetic ability, and that executive function negatively moderated the link between visual-spatial skills and patterning ability. These findings illuminate the pedagogical strategies, such as the cultivation of visual-spatial skills and pattern recognition awareness, especially for those with varying levels of executive function in early math education.
Keywords: Arithmetic ability, Executive Function, final-year preschooler, patterning ability, Visual-spatial skills
Received: 18 Aug 2025; Accepted: 29 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Yao, Yuan and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Han Yuan
Qi Yang
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