Mathematics: Research reports
Factors influencing math performance
March 2007
Executive function as important as IQ for math success
A study of 141 preschoolers from low-income homes has found that a
child whose IQ and executive functioning were both above average was
three times more likely to succeed in math than a child who simply had a
high IQ. The parts of executive function that appear to be particularly
linked to math ability in preschoolers are
working memory
and inhibitory control. In this context, working memory may be thought
of as the ability to keep information or rules in mind while performing
mental tasks. Inhibitory control is the ability to halt automatic
impulses and focus on the problem at hand. Inhibitory control was also
important for reading ability. The finding offers the hope that training
to improve executive function will improve academic performance.
The research was published in the February issue of
Child Development.
Full reference
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=90377FAE-E7F2-99DF-3A1204FC5F2BF0F7
June 2006
Language affects how math is done?
A comparison of activity in the brains of Chinese and English
participants doing simple arithmetic using Arabic numbers has found
that, although both groups utilised the
inferior parietal cortex
(an area connected to quantity representation and reading), English
speakers displayed more activity in the language processing area of the
brain, while Chinese speakers used the area of the brain that deals with
processing visual information. There was no significant difference in
the reaction time and accuracy of the Chinese and English-speaking
volunteers. However, an
earlier study comparing Canadian and Chinese students found that the
latter were better at complex maths. The findings suggest that our
native language, or different teaching methods, may influence the way we
solve equations.
The report appeared online before print on June 30 in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Full reference
http://www.scenta.co.uk/scenta/news.cfm?cit_id=903050&FAArea1=widgets.content_view_1
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9422?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=dn9422
July 2004
Preschool storytelling ability linked to later mathematical ability
A new study suggests that preschool children's early storytelling
abilities are predictive of their mathematical ability two years later.
In the study, three-and four-year-old children were shown a book that
contained only pictures and were asked to tell the story to a puppet.
Their abilities were measured in a variety of ways. Two years later, the
children were given a number of tests of academic achievement, including
a test of mathematical achievement. It was found was that those children
who scored highly on the mathematics test had also scored highly on
certain measures of their storytelling ability two years earlier. "Most
strongly predictive of children's mathematical performance was their
ability to relate all the different events in the story, to shift
clearly from the actions of one character to another, and to adopt the
perspective of different characters and talk about what they were
feeling or thinking." This study suggests that building strong
storytelling skills early in the preschool years may be helpful in
preparing children for learning mathematics when they enter school.
The study was published in the June issue of
First Language.
Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-07/nsae-url072904.htm
Factors impairing math ability
October 2006
Women's math performance affected by theories on sex differences
In a salutary reminder to all researchers into gender and race
differences, researchers found that women who received a genetic
explanation for female underachievement in math or were reminded of the
stereotype about female math underachievement, performed more poorly on
math tests than those who received an experiential explanation (such as
math teachers treating boys preferentially during the first years of
math education) or were led to believe there are no sex differences in
math.
The paper was published in the October 19 issue of
Science.
Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-10/uobc-wmp101306.htm
June 2001
Iron deficiency may affect maths achievement in children and teens
A U.S. national study of 5,398 children aged 6 to 16 found iron
deficiency in 3% of the children overall, and 8.7% of girls aged 12 to
16 (7% without anemia). Average math scores for iron-deficient children
with or without anemia were about six points lower than those with
normal iron levels. Among adolescent girls, the difference in scores was
more than eight points. Previous research has linked iron-deficiency
anemia with lower developmental test scores in young children, but there
is less information on older children and on iron deficiency without
anemia. It is suggested that this finding may help explain why the
female superiority in maths at younger ages reverses itself in
adolescence.
The study was published in the June issue of the journal
Pediatrics.
Full reference
http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/abstract/107/6/1381
Anxiety over maths blocks learning
The so-called "maths block" is notorious - why do we have such a
term? Do we talk about a "geography block", or a "physics block"?
But we do talk of a reading block. Perhaps the reason for both is
the same.
The amount of information you can work with at one time has clear
limits, defined by your working memory capacity. When we are
anxious, part of our working memory is taken up with our awareness
of these fears and worries, leaving less capacity available for
processing (which is why students who are very anxious during exams
usually perform well below their capabilities). Processes such as
reading and working with numbers are very sensitive to working
memory capacity because they place such demands on it.
A recently reported study by Mark H. Ashcraft and Elizabeth P. Kirk,
both psychologists at Cleveland (Ohio) State University, provides
the first solid evidence that, indeed, math-anxious people have
working memory problems as they do maths.
This study appeared in the June issue of the
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
http://www.sciencenews.org/20010630/fob4.asp
Neural substrate of mathematics
March 2007
Right parietal lobe implicated in dyscalculia
By temporarily knocking out an area in the right
parietal
lobe (the
right
intraparietal sulcus), researchers have induced dyscalculia in
normal subjects, providing strong evidence that dyscalculia is
caused by malfunction in this area. These findings were further
validated by testing participants suffering from developmental
dyscalculia. Although less well-known, dyscalculia is as prevalent
as dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (around
5%).
The findings were published online ahead of print on March 22 in
Current Biology.
Full reference
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070322132931.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-03/ucl-tro032107.htm
February 2005
Are language and math processed separately by the brain?
Challenging the view that mathematics and language use common
cognitive resources, a recent study provides support for the view
that the functions of math and language are separate in the human
brain. The study involved three men with severe agrammatic aphasia,
which means they're unable to understand or form sentences due to
brain damage. They didn't understand a reversible sentence - for
example, the difference between 'John kissed Kate' and 'Kate kissed
John', but they were able to understand that 5 - 2 is different from
2 – 5 (but not when it was expressed in words: two minus five). The
researcher takes the results as a demonstration that we can have
cognition without language, however, because the men were all normal
until they sustained brain damage, it doesn’t answer the question of
whether sophisticated cognition could arise
without language.
The research is published in the March 1 issue of the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Full reference
http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,,1427167,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4265763.stm
http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050214/full/050214-3.html
September 2001
Calculation difficulties in children of very low birthweight
Learning difficulties, including problems with numeracy, are
common in Western populations. Many children with learning
difficulty are survivors of preterm birth. Although some of these
children have neurological disabilities, many are neurologically
normal. A neuroimaging study of neurologically normal adolescent
children who had been born preterm at 30 weeks gestation or less
found an area in the left parietal lobe where children without a
deficit in calculation ability have more grey matter than those who
do have this deficit.
The study appeared in Brain.
Full reference
http://brain.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/124/9/1701
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1512000/1512664.stm
http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=90945
http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=90945
http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=90945
Dyscalculia
March 2007
Right parietal lobe implicated in dyscalculia
By temporarily knocking out an area in the right
parietal
lobe (the
right
intraparietal sulcus), researchers have induced dyscalculia in
normal subjects, providing strong evidence that dyscalculia is
caused by malfunction in this area. These findings were further
validated by testing participants suffering from developmental
dyscalculia. Although less well-known, dyscalculia is as prevalent
as dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (around
5%).
The findings were published online ahead of print on March 22 in
Current Biology.
Full reference
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070322132931.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-03/ucl-tro032107.htm
March 2006
Scientists find brain function most important to math ability
A finding that an area of the brain widely thought to be involved
in processing number information generally, in fact has two very
separate functions, may be the key to diagnosing dyscalculia. One
function is responsible for counting 'how many' things are present
and the other is responsible for knowing 'how much'. The brain
activity specific to estimating numbers of things is thought to be
the brain network that underlies arithmetic and may be abnormal in
dyscalculics.
The paper was published on March 21 in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-03/ucl-sfb030606.htm
September 2001
Calculation difficulties in children of very low birthweight
Learning difficulties, including problems with numeracy, are
common in Western populations. Many children with learning
difficulty are survivors of preterm birth. Although some of these
children have neurological disabilities, many are neurologically
normal. A neuroimaging study of neurologically normal adolescent
children who had been born preterm at 30 weeks gestation or less
found an area in the left parietal lobe where children without a
deficit in calculation ability have more grey matter than those who
do have this deficit.
The study appeared in Brain.
Full reference
http://brain.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/124/9/1701
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1512000/1512664.stm
http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=90945
http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=90945
http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=90945
Blog links:
- September 12 2003: dyscalculia - the numerical equivalent of dyslexia
