Abstract

CORSO, Luciana Vellinho  and  DORNELES, Beatriz Vargas. Cognitive profile of students with learning difficulties in reading and mathematics. Psicol. teor. prat. [online]. 2015, vol.17, n.2, pp. 185-198. ISSN 1516-3687.

The co-occurrence of difficulties in reading and mathematics is frequent, indicating that common cognitive skills underlying these difficulties may be impaired. The study aims to analyse the cognitive abilities which are in the basis of acquisition of both reading and mathematics skills contributing to the educational practice in these areas. This is a cross-sectional, quantitative study that identified cognitive functions of 79 students from 3rd to 6th grade of elementary school. The students were divided into four groups: difficulties in reading, in mathematics, in both areas and the control group. We assessed the cognitive profile of the students through tasks in volving: phonological processing, number sense, working memory, counting strategies and arithmetic fact retrieval. Each group showed a unique cognitive profile indicating different educational needs. The results urge attention to the importance of the stimulation of phonological processing and number sense, abilities which are still unknown by Brazilian schools.

Keywords : learning difficulties; reading; mathematics; cognitive abilities; cognitive profile.

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