Foundations of Arithmetic Learning: Cognitive, Neuropsychological, and Educational Perspectives

Arithmetic learning is a complex developmental achievement supported by multiple interacting systems. Evidence from numerical cognition highlights the importance of both nonsymbolic quantity processing and symbolic number knowledge, including knowledge of Arabic numerals, for the early development of arithmetic. Longitudinal models also suggest that mathematical development depends on partially distinct quantitative, linguistic, and spatial-attentional pathways. In parallel, research on executive functioning has shown that working memory and updating are consistently associated with mathematics achievement, whereas the roles of inhibition and shifting appear more task- and age-dependent. Beyond cognitive predictors, emotional and motivational factors, such as mathematics anxiety, self-efficacy, and engagement, may influence how children and adolescents acquire, consolidate, and apply arithmetic skills.The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together empirical, theoretical, methodological, and review contributions on the foundations of arithmetic learning. The collection aims to clarify how domain-specific numerical abilities, domain-general cognitive processes, linguistic skills, attention, executive functions, and emotional factors contribute to arithmetic development and mathematical achievement.Particular attention will be given to integrative models that explain typical and atypical trajectories of mathematical learning, including developmental dyscalculia and broader mathematical learning difficulties. The Research Topic also seeks to promote translational links between cognitive and neuropsychological theory, psychological assessment, educational practice, and intervention. By integrating cognitive, emotional, neuropsychological, and educational perspectives, this collection aims to advance a multidimensional understanding of arithmetic learning and its difficulties.Although each of these systems has been studied productively, they have largely evolved in separate research programs and disciplinary traditions. Numerical cognition research has not always integrated findings on executive functions, and these lines of research remain somewhat disconnected from work on language, anxiety, and educational assessment. Integrative accounts of how these systems jointly shape arithmetic learning remain limited. This Research Topic addresses that gap directly, focusing on arithmetic specifically, rather than mathematics broadly, as a developmental foundation, a target of assessment, and a site of intervention.Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:. number sense, and nonsymbolic quantity processing;. symbolic number knowledge, counting, number identification and number writing;. arithmetic fluency, calculation, number line estimation, and problem solving;. working memory, updating, inhibition, shifting, attention, and processing speed;. linguistic, phonological, and vocabulary-related predictors of mathematics;. visuospatial abilities and spatial-attentional pathways;. mathematics anxiety, motivation, self-efficacy, and socioemotional predictors;. developmental dyscalculia and mathematical learning difficulties;. neuropsychological and educational assessment;. longitudinal, cross-cultural, and intervention studies.This Research Topic welcomes Original Research, Systematic Reviews, and Meta-Analyses Topic editors: Luís Querido, Sandra Fernandes, JERUSA FUMAGALLI DE SALLES Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79882/foundations-of-arithmetic-learning-cognitive-neuropsychological-and-educational-perspectives