Trial Outcomes & Findings for Flexible Attention to Magnitudes and Early Math (NCT NCT05682729)

Last Updated: 2025-10-30

Results Overview

Assesses preschool-aged children's ability to flexibly shift between attending to numerical and spatial magnitudes. The task is scored for accuracy (0 - 1), and higher scores indicate better outcomes. The outcome measure was change in accuracy from baseline to immediately after intervention, or 4 days.

Recruitment status

COMPLETED

Study phase

Target enrollment

116 participants

Primary outcome timeframe

Baseline and after intervention (up to 4 days)

Results posted on

2025-10-30

Participant Flow

We initially recruited 169 participants for the study, knowing that school absences during a short-term weeklong study would likely significantly reduce the final sample size. Participant exclusions were primarily due to school absences (n = 28), children not wanting to participate in one or more assessments (n = 13), developmental delays (n = 1), and technical errors with the online data collection system (n = 11).

Participant milestones

Participant milestones
Measure	Size to Number Book Reading Intervention: Children read books containing relevant stimuli.	Mixed Book Reading Intervention: Children read books containing relevant stimuli.	Traditional Counting Book Reading Intervention: Children read books containing relevant stimuli.	Non-Numerical Control Book Reading Intervention: Children read books containing relevant stimuli.
Overall Study STARTED	37	25	30	24
Overall Study COMPLETED	37	25	30	24
Overall Study NOT COMPLETED	0	0	0	0

Reasons for withdrawal

Withdrawal data not reported

Baseline Characteristics

Flexible Attention to Magnitudes and Early Math

Baseline characteristics by cohort

Baseline characteristics by cohort
Measure	Size to Number n=37 Participants Book Reading Intervention: Children read books containing relevant stimuli.	Mixed n=25 Participants Book Reading Intervention: Children read books containing relevant stimuli.	Traditional Counting n=30 Participants Book Reading Intervention: Children read books containing relevant stimuli.	Non-Numerical Control n=24 Participants Book Reading Intervention: Children read books containing relevant stimuli.	Total n=116 Participants Total of all reporting groups
Age, Continuous	55 Months of age STANDARD_DEVIATION 8 • n=5 Participants	55 Months of age STANDARD_DEVIATION 8 • n=7 Participants	56 Months of age STANDARD_DEVIATION 8 • n=5 Participants	56 Months of age STANDARD_DEVIATION 8 • n=4 Participants	56 Months of age STANDARD_DEVIATION 8 • n=21 Participants
Sex: Female, Male Female	17 Participants n=5 Participants	14 Participants n=7 Participants	16 Participants n=5 Participants	16 Participants n=4 Participants	63 Participants n=21 Participants
Sex: Female, Male Male	20 Participants n=5 Participants	11 Participants n=7 Participants	14 Participants n=5 Participants	8 Participants n=4 Participants	53 Participants n=21 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Hispanic or Latino	1 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=7 Participants	4 Participants n=5 Participants	5 Participants n=4 Participants	10 Participants n=21 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Not Hispanic or Latino	31 Participants n=5 Participants	21 Participants n=7 Participants	23 Participants n=5 Participants	17 Participants n=4 Participants	92 Participants n=21 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported	5 Participants n=5 Participants	4 Participants n=7 Participants	3 Participants n=5 Participants	2 Participants n=4 Participants	14 Participants n=21 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) American Indian or Alaska Native	0 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=7 Participants	0 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=4 Participants	0 Participants n=21 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Asian	0 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=7 Participants	0 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=4 Participants	0 Participants n=21 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	0 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=7 Participants	0 Participants n=5 Participants	0 Participants n=4 Participants	0 Participants n=21 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Black or African American	10 Participants n=5 Participants	9 Participants n=7 Participants	5 Participants n=5 Participants	8 Participants n=4 Participants	32 Participants n=21 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) White	18 Participants n=5 Participants	9 Participants n=7 Participants	14 Participants n=5 Participants	7 Participants n=4 Participants	48 Participants n=21 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) More than one race	3 Participants n=5 Participants	3 Participants n=7 Participants	5 Participants n=5 Participants	7 Participants n=4 Participants	18 Participants n=21 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported	6 Participants n=5 Participants	4 Participants n=7 Participants	6 Participants n=5 Participants	2 Participants n=4 Participants	18 Participants n=21 Participants
Region of Enrollment United States	37 participants n=5 Participants	25 participants n=7 Participants	30 participants n=5 Participants	24 participants n=4 Participants	116 participants n=21 Participants

PRIMARY outcome

Timeframe: Baseline and after intervention (up to 4 days)

Population: The population was children who completed baseline and post-intervention assessment.

Outcome measures

Outcome measures
Measure	Size to Number n=37 Participants Children read books that contained questions about spatial magnitude comparisons followed by questions about numerical magnitude comparisons.	Mixed n=25 Participants Children read books that contained questions about spatial and numerical magnitude comparisons that were intermixed throughout the books.	Traditional Counting n=30 Participants Children read books that focused on counting.	Non-Numerical Control n=24 Participants Children read books with questions about shapes and colors.
Change in Flexible Attention to Magnitudes Task	.07 mean pre-post diff in units on a scale Standard Deviation .17	.13 mean pre-post diff in units on a scale Standard Deviation .23	.03 mean pre-post diff in units on a scale Standard Deviation .26	.08 mean pre-post diff in units on a scale Standard Deviation .23

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: baseline and immediately after intervention (up to 4 days)

Population: The population was children who completed baseline and post-intervention assessment.

Ipad based card game assessing attention shifting. Standardized scores are calculated, with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. The mean change in standard score from pre-to-post test was examined across all 4 groups.

Outcome measures

Outcome measures
Measure	Size to Number n=37 Participants Children read books that contained questions about spatial magnitude comparisons followed by questions about numerical magnitude comparisons.	Mixed n=25 Participants Children read books that contained questions about spatial and numerical magnitude comparisons that were intermixed throughout the books.	Traditional Counting n=30 Participants Children read books that focused on counting.	Non-Numerical Control n=24 Participants Children read books with questions about shapes and colors.
Change in Minnesota Executive Function Scale	-.51 mean pre-post diff on score on a scale Standard Deviation 7.36	1.12 mean pre-post diff on score on a scale Standard Deviation 5.19	-1.2 mean pre-post diff on score on a scale Standard Deviation 10.21	3.96 mean pre-post diff on score on a scale Standard Deviation 7.36

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: baseline and immediately after (up to 4 days)

Population: The population was children who completed baseline and post-intervention assessment.

Child identifies location of a number on a 0 - 10 number line. Total scores range from 0 - 20, with higher scores indicating better performance. Pre-to-post test change scores were examined.

Outcome measures

Outcome measures
Measure	Size to Number n=37 Participants Children read books that contained questions about spatial magnitude comparisons followed by questions about numerical magnitude comparisons.	Mixed n=25 Participants Children read books that contained questions about spatial and numerical magnitude comparisons that were intermixed throughout the books.	Traditional Counting n=30 Participants Children read books that focused on counting.	Non-Numerical Control n=24 Participants Children read books with questions about shapes and colors.
Change in Number Line Estimation Task	.51 Mean pre-post diff on score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.68	.32 Mean pre-post diff on score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.49	-.17 Mean pre-post diff on score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.78	-.38 Mean pre-post diff on score on a scale Standard Deviation 1.53

Adverse Events

Size to Number

Serious events: 0 serious events

Other events: 0 other events

Deaths: 0 deaths

Mixed

Serious events: 0 serious events

Other events: 0 other events

Deaths: 0 deaths

Traditional Counting

Serious events: 0 serious events

Other events: 0 other events

Deaths: 0 deaths

Non-Numerical Control

Serious events: 0 serious events

Other events: 0 other events

Deaths: 0 deaths

Serious adverse events

Adverse event data not reported

Other adverse events

Adverse event data not reported

Additional Information

Mary Wagner

University of Dayton

Phone: 9372292775

Email: [email protected]

Results disclosure agreements

Principal investigator is a sponsor employee
Publication restrictions are in place