Notice Number: NOT-HD-12-032
Update: The following update relating to this announcement has been issued:
- January 18, 2013 - See Notice NOT-HD-13-001. Addition of Renewals and Revisions.
Key Dates
Release Date: November 5, 2012
PA-12-246; PA-12-247; PA-12-248
Issued by
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Purpose
The purpose of this Notice is to clarify and update the appropriateness of various research populations in investigations of the development of mathematical cognition and reasoning and the prevention of math learning disabilities, Part 2, Section I. Funding Opportunity Description of the Research Scope and Objectives and Examples of Research Topics, for applications submitted in response to PA-12-248 (R01), PA-12-247 (R03), and PA-12-246 (R21) "Development of Mathematical Cognition and Reasoning and the Prevention of Math Learning Disabilities".
NIH defines "children" as any person up to the age of 21 years old. Because development of mathematical skills continue at least through all years of schooling, for the purposes of these Program Announcements, it may be appropriate for some investigations to include students who are older than 21 years of age (e.g., college students). As appropriate to the research questions, participants may be typically or atypically developing individuals.
The inclusion of animal research, including but not limited to animal models of math cognition and comparative animal math cognition, may be appropriate to expand and elaborate our understanding of human math cognition and reasoning, and math learning disabilities.
Part 2. Full Text of AnnouncementSection I. Funding Opportunity Description
Current Research Scope and Objectives
The overall objectives of this FOA include:
1) identify the critical (necessary and sufficient) biological, cognitive, and behavioral components and dynamic developmental sequence, including sensitive periods, necessary for the normal development of mathematical cognitive abilities and reasoning (e.g., counting, arithmetic, geometry, algebra), including early and normative milestones;
2) identify the biological, cognitive, environmental, and behavioral factors that contribute to and/or restrict the developmental plasticity of mathematical cognitive abilities, and may be used to improve prevention, identification, and classification of children with MLD (including theoretically-grounded approaches to identification and classification);
3) develop and test well-defined, evidence-based prevention interventions for populations at high risk for mathematics learning disability such as children raised in poverty, and those with predisposing genetic or medical conditions (e.g., velocardiofacial syndrome, deafness, and iatrogenic conditions such as chemotherapy-associated math learning deficits), where the intervention’s effectiveness can be shown to be both sustainable and generalizable;
4) develop and test well-defined, evidence-based remediating or treatment interventions, the effectiveness of which can be shown to be both sustainable and generalizable.
Such foundational knowledge should ultimately improve math instruction for all children, including those who struggle with math facts, concepts, application, and achievement. Promoting better math reasoning and mathematical ability in the American population is likely to have significant impacts on the health, academic and career achievement, and economic wellbeing of its citizens, as well as enable a competitive STEM workforce.
Clarified Research Scope and Objectives
The current Research Scope and Objectives are clarified by the inclusion of the following italicized text:
1) identify the critical (necessary and sufficient) biological, cognitive, and behavioral components and dynamic developmental sequence, including sensitive periods, necessary for the normal development of mathematical cognitive abilities and reasoning in animal models, studies of comparative cognitive neurobiology, and in children and young adults (e.g., counting, arithmetic, geometry, algebra), including early and normative milestones in children;
2) identify the biological, cognitive, environmental, and behavioral factors that contribute to and/or restrict the developmental plasticity of mathematical cognitive abilities in animal models, studies of comparative cognitive neurobiology, and in children, and may be used to improve prevention, identification, and classification of children with MLD (including theoretically-grounded approaches to identification and classification).
Updated Examples of Research Topics
The following are added to Examples of Research Topics as examples of appropriate application research topics. In addition to the topics previously published in the referenced Program Announcements, appropriate topics include but are not limited to:
- Knock-out and knock-in rodent models of the genetic basis for the Approximate Number System.
- Identify and compare/contrast the genetic and neurobiological underpinnings of small number cognition in several vertebrates and young children, and the environmental factors (e.g., grouping individual items into sets, the effects of environmental enrichment) that enhance or impair small number cognition, so as to highlight critical factors in small number cognition, and potential intervention points for the preservation or restoration of small number cognition and later development of large number cognition in humans.
- Identify the developmental behavioral and neurobiological substrates and progression to maturity of the Approximate Number System in both non-human vertebrates and humans.
- Identify if training enhances acuity (e.g., the Weber fraction) of the Approximate Number System in both non-human vertebrates and humans, and what enhancement factors are common across classes of animals.
- Examine the critical elements of and evaluate the efficacy of "just in time" math interventions (i.e., brief targeted education delivered at the moment it is needed for application) versus traditional remedial math classes for college or technical school students with a history of math underachievement or math learning disability.
Inquiries
Please direct all inquiries to:
Kathy Mann Koepke, PhD
Program Director
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Telephone: 301-435-6855
Fax: 301-451-5650
Email: KMK@nih.gov
and Human Services (HHS)
