Positive math attitudes are associated with greater frontal activation among children from higher socio-economic status families

Abstract

Math learning is explained by the interaction between cognitive, affective, and social factors. However, studies rarely investigate how these factors interact with one another to explain math performance. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to understand the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the interaction between parental socioeconomic status (SES) and children's math attitudes. To this aim, 57 children solved multiplication problems inside the scanner. We measured parental SES by creating two groups based on parents' occupations and measured children's math attitudes using a questionnaire. We ran a cluster-wise regression analysis examining the interaction between these two variables while controlling for the main effects of SES, math attitudes, and full IQ. The analysis revealed a cluster in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), which was due to children with positive math attitudes from high socio-economic status families showing greater IFG activation when solving large multiplication problems as compared to their negative attitudes high SES peers, suggesting that they exhibited more retrieval effort to solve large multiplication problems. We discuss how this may be because they were the only ones who fully engaged in math opportunities provided by their environment.