Marie-Pascale Noel

Marie-Pascale Noel
Catholic University of Louvain | UCLouvain · Psychological Sciences Research Institute

Professor

About

134
Publications
49,185
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Introduction
My current research interest - numerical development in typical children - cognitive bases of dyscalculia or math learning difficulties - assessment of numerical skills in children (currently working on an online test) - remediation of math learning difficulties (currently writing a book on this topic) - training working memory in children - training inhibition and other executive skills in children

Publications

Publications (134)
Article
Full-text available
By the end of primary school, children are expected to acquire a range of mathematical skills that progressively develop. This study aimed to gain insight into how a large number of numerical and geometrical measures are grouped and whether the structures shift or remain invariant along child’s development based on the data obtained from a sample o...
Article
Le diagnostic de Trouble de Déficit de l’Attention/Hyperactivité (TDAH) est un processus complexe qui comporte des enjeux développementaux importants pour le patient tant sur le plan identitaire qu’au niveau de sa trajectoire de soin. À l’heure actuelle, ce diagnostic repose sur des mé- thodes d’évaluation très différentes. Dans ce contexte, la sen...
Article
Full-text available
Recent empirical investigations have revealed that finger counting is a strategy associated with good arithmetic performance in young children. Fingers could have a special status during development because they operate as external support that provide sensory-motor and kinesthetic affordances in addition to visual input. However, it was unknown wh...
Chapter
Rational numbers are presented under three different notations: fractions (1/4), decimal numbers (0.25) and percentages (25%). The understanding of these numbers is essential for more advanced mathematical achievement. Unfortunately, many students do not reach a sufficient level of understanding of these numbers. For instance, among a large sample...
Chapter
In word problem solving, the child needs to understand the text (De Corte & Verschaffel 1985, Cummins & al., 1988) and to reconstruct mentally, or analogically, the situations in order to elaborate the corresponding mathematical symbolism using arithmetical operations (Fagnant, 2005). This last step is called mathematical modelling (Verschaffel & d...
Chapter
Basic numerical processing correspond to those that develop during the first 5 or 6 years of a child's life, that is, before he or she receives mathematics instruction at school. This corresponds to the Approximate Number System (Xu & Spelke, 2000), the subitizing (Ashkenazi, Mark‐Zigdon & Henik, 2013), the verbal numerical chain (Fuson, Richards,...
Chapter
Arithmetic performance is the ability to correctly solve arithmetic problems in a fluent way. It depends on the ability to understand the concept of the operation, to develop and select effective resolution strategies and the ability to increase the fluidity in the resolution of calculations. In the first section of this chapter, we will describe t...
Book
General introduction This book is the fruit of the collaboration of two experts interested in the problem of learning disabilities in mathematics and dyscalculia: a child neuropsychologist and a mathematician. Each of them has developed a career combining scientific research and interest in the clinical field. The aim of this book is to build br...
Chapter
Most Western number systems are constructed upon a base-10. Children need to understand this base-10 system (Fuson, Wearne, Hiebert, Murray, Human, Olivier, Carpenter & Fennema, 1997 and Fuson, 1998) including the fact that the value of an Arabic digit depends upon its position within the umber (see Becker & Varelas, 1993). These understanding will...
Chapter
This chapter is based on the idea that the development of number processing is built on multiple neurocognitive components and that impairment in any of these can compromise this learning (Fias, Menon & Szucs, 2013). Accordingly, heterogeneity of math learning disability is expected (Andersson & Östergren, 2012). According to the meta-analysis con...
Article
The Vietnamese number-naming system more transparently expresses base-10 than the French one does. Our study aimed to examine the language (base-10) effect on the transcoding performance and error nature in 68 French-speaking (FS) children and 173 Vietnamese-speaking (VNS) children in the first grade. They were presented with two transcoding tasks:...
Chapter
1. Introduction – signes d’appel 2. Présentation générale de l’évaluation du traitement numérique 3. Les mesures de performance 4. Les tests approfondis 5. L’intégration de l’examen du calcul au bilan cognitif 6. Illustration de la démarche évaluative 7. Conclusion
Chapter
Dans cet ouvrage, nous avons choisi de présenter la démarche du bilan neuropsychologique de l’enfant en approfondissant, dans chaque chapitre, un aspect particulier, une fonction cognitive déterminée. Dans ce dernier chapitre, nous souhaitons donner un aperçu plus global et intégré de la démarche du bilan neuropsychologique. Cette démarche sera ill...
Chapter
La première rencontre avec les parents et l’enfant constitue une étape importante pour l’évaluation du bilan à venir. Ce premier contact a pour objectif de cerner la demande, de prendre connaissance de l’histoire de l’enfant et des difficultés qui l’amènent à consulter. Tous ces éléments sont relevés dans le but d’orienter le bilan neuropsychologiq...
Article
The current study addressed the following question: Among preschoolers’ basic numerical abilities, what are the best predictors for the later addition skills? We measured numerical abilities at preschool age and used dominance analysis to determine the dominant predictor for addition skills 2 years later. We tested seven numerical specific predicto...
Article
Studies involving congenitally blind adults shows that visual experience is not a mandatory prerequisite for the emergence of efficient numerical abilities. It remains however unknown whether blind adults developed lifelong strategies to compensate for the absence of foundations vision would provide in infancy. We therefore assessed basic numerical...
Book
Cet ouvrage, dirigé par Marie-Pascale Noël, est issu du travail conjoint d’experts du domaine du développement cognitif: Jacques Grégoire, Corinne Catale, Steve Majerus, Annette Closset, Laurence Bastin, Arnaud Roy, Koviljka Barisnokov, Arnaud Saj, Christelle Maillart, Anne-Lise Leclerq, Anne Bragard, Hélène Lafontaine, Marie-Anne Schelstraete, Sac...
Preprint
Studies involving congenitally blind adults demonstrated that visual experience is not a mandatory prerequisite for the emergence of efficient numerical abilities. It remains however unknown whether blind adults developed lifelong strategies to compensate for the absence of foundations vision would provide in infancy. We therefore assessed basic nu...
Article
Full-text available
Several cross-sectional studies have suggested that the transparency of the number-naming system of East Asian languages (Chinese, Japanese) facilitates children's numerical development. The Vietnamese number-naming system also makes the base-10 system very explicit (eleven is "mười một," literally "ten-one," and thirty is "ba mươi," literally "thr...
Article
Full-text available
Executive functions and social cognition competences are associated with many important areas of life, such as school readiness, academic success or sociability. Numerous intervention programs aiming to improve these capacities have emerged and have been shown to be effective. As inhibition in particular, is closely related with social cognition co...
Article
Full-text available
The domain of numerical cognition still lacks an assessment tool that is theoretically driven and that covers a wide range of key numerical processes with the aim of identifying the learning profiles of children with difficulties in mathematics (MD) or dyscalculia. This paper is the first presentation of an online collectively administered tool dev...
Article
The origin of visuospatial short-term memory (STM) impairment is poorly investigated and is generally considered to be the result of a more global visuospatial deficit. However, previous studies suggest an important influence of two elements on performance in visuospatial STM tasks, the mode of presentation (i.e., simultaneous and sequential), and...
Article
People with Spina Bifida usually experience difficulties with mathematics. In a series of other developmental disorders, a magnitude processing deficit was considered to be the main source of subsequent difficulties in mathematics. The processing of magnitude could be numerical (which is the larger number) or non-numerical such as spatial (e.g., wh...
Chapter
Les recherches relatives à la dyscalculie chez l'enfant sont très réduites par rapport à celles portant sur d'autres difficultés d'apprentissages (la dyslexie en particulier). Le diagnostic de dyscalculie est moins souvent posé et il donne moins souvent lieu à une prise en charge. Pourtant, les études épidémiologiques indiquent que la fréquence d'o...
Article
Background: The impact of vestibular loss (VL) on cognition has been previously studied in experimental animal, human and adult patient studies showing links between VL, and cognitive impairments in space orientation, working memory, mental rotation and selective attention. However, few studies have been conducted on children with VL. Objective:...
Article
Recent studies have suggested that multisensory redundancy may improve cognitive learning. According to this view, information simultaneously available across two or more modalities is highly salient and, therefore, may be learned and remembered better than the same information presented to only one modality. In the current study, we wanted to eval...
Chapter
Les chiffres concernant la comorbidité entre problèmes de bégaiement et Troubles Déficitaires de l’Attention avec/sans Hyperactivité (TDAH) varient très fortement dans la littérature et aucune conclusion claire ne semble émerger. Dans ce chapitre, nous aborderons la question du lien entre ces deux troubles en considérant également la mesure dans la...
Article
Full-text available
Various factors may contribute to the emergence of externalizing behavior (EB) problems in the preschool period. At the child level, temperament and executive function (EF) seem to play an important role, as well as environmental variables such as household chaos. In this study, we examined the profiles of 49 EB preschoolers compared to 49 typicall...
Preprint
Recent studies suggested that multisensory training schemes could boost the development of abstract concepts. In the present study, we wanted to evaluate whether training arithmetic with a multisensory intervention could induce larger learning improvements than a visual intervention alone. Moreover, as a left-to-right oriented mental number line wa...
Preprint
Full-text available
Arithmetic reasoning activates the occipital cortex of early blind people (EB). This activation of visual areas may reflect functional flexibility or the intrinsic computational role of specific occipital regions. We contrasted these competing hypotheses by characterizing the brain activity of EB and sighted participants while performing subtractio...
Article
Recent models of visuospatial (VSSP) short-term memory postulate the existence of two dissociable mechanisms depending on whether VSSP information is presented simultaneously or sequentially. However, they do not specify to what extent VSSP short-term memory is under the influence of general VSSP processing. This issue was examined in people with 2...
Article
Full-text available
Arithmetic facts (AF) are required when solving problems such as “3x4” and refer to calculations for which the correct answer is retrieved from memory. Currently, two important effects that modulate the performance in AF has been highlighted: the problem size effect and the proactive interference effect. The aim of the present study is to investiga...
Article
Full-text available
A large number of studies have pointed out the role of working memory throughout numerical development. Working memory capacities seem to be improved after training and some studies have observed an impact of working memory training on academic performance. In our study, we examined whether training visuo-spatial working memory (with Cogmed) enhanc...
Article
Full-text available
In the past few years, the role of both domain-specific and domain-general factors on numerical development and mathematics achievement has been debated. In this paper, we focus on the role of visuo-spatial processes. We will more particularly review the numerical abilities of populations presenting atypical visuo-spatial processes: individuals wit...
Chapter
A fundamental requirement of our daily life relies on our ability to encode and process the locations of objects or events in space. This function is generally achieved by monitoring the position and movement of the body in relation to external objects and therefore requires the integration of body-centered and external coordinates. As the visual s...
Article
Numerous studies have tried to identify the core deficit of developmental dyscalculia (DD), mainly by assessing a possible deficit of the mental representation of numerical magnitude. Research in healthy adults has shown that numerosity, duration, and space share a partly common system of magnitude processing and representation. However, in DD, num...
Article
Full-text available
Working memory capacities are associated with mathematical development. Many studies have tried to improve working memory abilities through training. Furthermore, the central executive has been shown to be the component of working memory, which is the most strongly related to numerical and arithmetical skills. Therefore, we developed a training pro...
Article
Full-text available
The influence of visuo-spatial skills on numerical magnitude processing is the subject of a long-standing debate. As most of the numerical and non-numerical magnitude abilities underpinning mathematical development are visual by nature, they are often assessed in the visual modality, thereby confusing visuo-spatial and numerical processing. In orde...
Article
Full-text available
Most studies on magnitude representation have focused on the visual modality with no possibility of disentangling the influence of visuo-spatial skills and short-term memory (STM) abilities on quantification processes. This study examines this issue in patients with Turner syndrome (TS), a genetic condition characterized by a specific cognitive pro...
Data
Weber fractions for non symbolic magnitude comparison tasks (NA = Arabic numbers; NVO = Verbal numbers). (XLSX)
Data
General information and general measures for both groups (VSSP = Visuo spatial sketchpad; PL = Phonological loop; CE = central executive). (XLSX)
Data
Median correct response times in function of ratios for symbolic magnitude processing tasks (NA = Arabic numbers; NVO = Verbal numbers). (XLSX)
Data
Raw data for the subitizing task (ACC = Accuracy; RT = Response Time). (XLSX)
Article
Full-text available
Research has tried to identify risk factors that increase the likelihood of difficulties with externalizing behavior. The relations between individual or environmental factors and externalizing behavior have been especially documented. Child-oriented and parent-oriented interventions have been designed in order to decrease externalizing behavior in...
Article
Full-text available
In preschoolers, externalizing behavior problems are a primary cause of consultation. It is known that externalizing behavior (EB) could result from individual and environmental risk factors. Individual risk factors included notably social cognition (SC) and executive functions (EF). A high level of EB has usually been related to dysfunction in SC...
Article
Arithmetic facts, in particular multiplication tables, are thought to be stored in long-term memory and to be interference prone. At least two representations underpinning these arithmetic facts have been suggested: a physical representation of the digits and a numerical magnitude representation. We hypothesized that both representations are possib...
Article
Full-text available
The numerical cognition literature offers two views to explain numerical and arithmetical development. The unique-representation view considers the approximate number system (ANS) to represent the magnitude of both symbolic and non-symbolic numbers and to be the basis of numerical learning. In contrast, the dual-representation view suggests that sy...
Chapter
Storing the solution of simple calculations in long-term memory is an important learning in primary school that is subsequently essential in adult daily living. While most children succeed in storing arithmetic facts to which they have been trained at school, huge individual differences are reported, particularly in children with developmental dysc...
Article
The assessment of externalizing behavior (EB) in preschoolers is crucial in developmental psychopathology. In the absence of any gold standard measure, new tools contribute to a multi-method and multi-informant approach. The aim of the current study is to present and validate a new observational paradigm, the Unfair Card Game (UCG), intentionally s...
Article
In the literature on numerical cognition, a strong association between numbers and space has been repeatedly demonstrated. However, only a few recent studies have been devoted to examine the consequences of low visuospatial abilities on calculation processing. In this study, we wanted to investigate whether visuospatial weakness may affect pure spa...
Article
The assessment of externalizing behavior (EB) in preschoolers is crucial in developmental psychopathology. In the absence of any gold standard measure, new tools contribute to a multi-method and multi-informant approach. The aim of the current study is to present and validate a new observational paradigm, the Unfair Card Game (UCG), intentionally s...
Chapter
Full-text available
This book provides a comprehensive overview of numerical cognition by bringing together writing by leading researchers in psychology, neuroscience, and education, covering work using different methodological approaches in humans and animals. During the last decade there had been an explosion of studies and new findings with theoretical and translat...
Article
Full-text available
The difficulty in memorizing arithmetic facts is a general and persistent hallmark of math learning disabilities. It has recently been suggested that hypersensitivity to interference could prevent a person from storing arithmetic facts. The similarity between arithmetic facts would provoke interference, and learners who are hypersensitive to interf...
Article
Full-text available
Though a clear interaction between finger and number representations has been demonstrated, what drives the development of this intertwining remains unclear. Here we tested early blind, late blind and sighted control participants in two counting tasks, each performed under three different conditions: a resting condition, a condition requiring hands...
Article
Full-text available
Despite numerous studies, the link between verbal working memory (WM) and calculation abilities remains poorly understood. The present longitudinal study focuses specifically on the role of serial order retention capacities, based on recent findings suggesting a link between ordinal processing in verbal WM and numerical processing tasks. Children w...
Article
Dyscalculia, or mathematics learning disorders, is currently known to be heterogeneous (Wilson & Dehaene, ). While various profiles of dyscalculia coexist, a general and persistent hallmark of this math learning disability is the difficulty in memorizing arithmetic facts (Geary, Hoard & Hamson, ; Jordan & Montani, ; Slade & Russel, ). Arithmetic fa...
Article
Full-text available
This study tested the processing of ratios of natural numbers in school-age children. Nine- and eleven-year-olds were presented collections made up of orange and grey dots (i.e., nonsymbolic format) and fractions (i.e., symbolic format). They were asked to estimate ratios between the number of orange dots and the total number of dots and fractions...
Article
Full-text available
In number comparison tasks, the performance is better when the distance between the numbers to compare increases. It has been shown that this so-called numerical distance effect (NDE) decreases with age but the neuroanatomical correlates of these age-related changes are poorly known. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we recorded t...
Article
Full-text available
For some authors, the human sensitivity to numerosities would be grounded in our ability to process non-numerical magnitudes. In the present study, the developmental relationships between non numerical and numerical magnitude processing are examined in people with Williams syndrome (WS), a genetic disorder known to associate visuo-spatial and math...
Data
Weber fraction estimation method. (DOCX)
Article
Full-text available
Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a persistent and specific disorder of the numerical development and the mathematical learning. Some authors have assumed that a pure numerical deficit might be at the origin of this learning disability, while others have emphasized the role of general cognitive factors. In this article, we developed a track to each...
Article
Full-text available
We studied the acquisition of the ordinal meaning of number words and examined its development relative to the acquisition of the cardinal meaning. Three groups of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children were tested in two tasks requiring the use of number words in both cardinal and ordinal contexts. Understanding of the counting principles was also measur...
Article
Full-text available
Studies on developmental dyscalculia (DD) have tried to identify a basic numerical deficit that could account for this specific learning disability. The first proposition was that the number magnitude representation of these children was impaired. However, Rousselle and Noël (2007) brought data showing that this was not the case but rather that the...
Article
Full-text available
There are currently multiple explanations for mathematical learning disabilities (MLD). The present study focused on those assuming that MLD are due to a basic numerical deficit affecting the ability to represent and to manipulate number magnitude ( Butterworth, 1999 , 2005 ; A. J. Wilson & Dehaene, 2007 ) and/or to access that number magnitude rep...
Article
This clinical study has for objective to put in to test the distinction between the concepts of cognitivo-verbal inhibition and behavioral inhibition by measuring the effects of two types of reeducation, a reeducation of the cognitivo-verbal inhibition and a reeducation of the behavioral inhibition, on the capacities of inhibition of the child. Sev...
Article
Full-text available
This study mainly investigated the specificity of the processing of fraction magnitudes. Adults performed a magnitude-estimation task on fractions, the ratios of collections of dots, and the ratios of surface areas. Their performance on fractions was directly compared with that on nonsymbolic ratios. At odds with the hypothesis that the symbolic no...
Article
Full-text available
In the literature on numerical cognition, it is generally assumed that fingers play a functional role in the development of a mature counting system (Gelman and Gallistel, 1978; Fuson et al., 1982; Fuson, 1988; Butterworth, 1999a,b, 2005). Indeed, fingers have been assumed to contribute to: (1) giving an iconic representation of numbers (Fayol and...
Article
Full-text available
Some current models of mathematical cognition (Dehaene, 1992; Campbell & Clark, 1992) make strong claims about the code in which arithmetical operations are solved, basing themselves on how these operations were originally acquired or are most frequently employed. However, data on acquisition and use are often derived from anecdotic reports and no...
Article
Full-text available
This study investigated adults' ability to compare the magnitude of fractions without common components (e.g., 5/7 and 3/8), and the representation accessed in that process. We hypothesized that the absence of common components would enhance access to the magnitude of the fractions (i.e., a holistic representation) rather than a direct comparison o...
Article
Full-text available
Full Text | PDF (441.709 KB) | PDF Plus (422.36 KB) Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a deficit in number processing and arithmetic that affects 3-6% of schoolchildren. The goal of the present study was to analyze cerebral bases of DD related to symbolic number processing. Children with DD aged 9-11 years and matched children with no learning disab...