Is it true that there is an innate tendency to mathematics?

The people have an idea of ​​some innate mathematical abilities, thanks to which some children learn mathematics better than others. We checked if he has a scientific basis.

In 2013, psychologists from the University of Pittsburgh conducted experiment. They investigated the unsympathetic feeling numbers (the ability to determine the number of offhand, without accurate calculation) in six -month -old infants and their subsequent successes in mathematics in three and a half years. The babies were shown cards where various items were depicted. On some of the cards, the number of items differed. Some children noticed this difference, others did not. Scientists were able to trace this by how long the children held their eyes on the cards. Three years later, the same children were tested for knowledge of numbers and the ability to count up to ten. It turned out that the better the feeling of the number of children who had not even learned to talk, the better they coped with simple mathematical tasks at a more conscious age. This gave reason for the hypothesis that the tendency to mathematics, indeed, could be innate. 

A few years later, American scientists conducted study, during which they asked children for five or eight years and their parents to pass several mathematical tests. They noticed a direct dependence between the speed of completing tasks by children and their parents, which gave them an occasion to assert: talent for mathematics can be inherited.

In 2020, German scientists partly confirmed this hypothesis. In the course research They made magnetic resonance tomography (MRI) 178 children from three to six years old, and then invited them to complete a number of mathematical tasks. They revealed which areas of the brain are responsible for the successful implementation of such tests. Then they conducted the same study, but already on children at the age of seven to nine years. The comparison showed that the most successfully tasks were performed by those children who were increased by the volume of the right parietal cerebral cortex. The ROB01 gene discovered by scientists is inherited by scientists. That is, perhaps, mathematical abilities can be inherited.

By opinion American scientists, there is also a correlation between the structure of the brain and how easy it is for children to study mathematics. During the experiment, 24 children at the age of eight to nine were engaged in individual tutors in mathematics for two months. Of course, all children showed significant advance in the study, but some were able to overtake the other participants in the experiment. All children before the study were made an MRI, and a comparison of the structure of the brain and success in learning showed: the easiest and fastest mathematics was given to those children who were initially more than the hippocampus. Also, the most successful in mathematics of children observed stronger neural ties between the hippocampus and brain zones, which are not at all for arithmetic, as one might think, but for the formation of long -term memory.

Nevertheless, not all scientists are of the opinion that the ability to mathematics is an innate quality, and they have their own arguments. So, for example, the study of scientists from different countries, including from Russia, partly refuted The results of Pittsburgh researchers about the relationship of a sense of number and success in mathematics. They tested 56 adolescents 16-17 years old. Some of them studied in specialized gymnasiums, and some in secondary schools. All of them showed the same level of sense of number, but at the same time, students of gymnasiums demonstrated significantly higher results when passing mathematical tests. 

Professor Stanford Joe Bowler, who taught mathematics in schools for many years, wrote a book called "Mathematical thinking"Where she spoke about several experiments that refute the arguments about the volume of the hippocampus. She cited as an example study, spent with taxi drivers in London, who during the training needed to remember all the streets of the city. They carried out an MRI at the beginning and at the end of their studies, and it turned out that those who have been training successfully, the hippocampus during this time increased significantly in size. Thus, it is possible, in children who were more successful in mathematics, this was not an innate quality, but a consequence of intensive learning (and not necessarily mathematics!), Based on the experiment.

Study, carried out in 2020 in the USA, showed that whatever genetic inclinations, the success in mathematics is affected by the environment in which the child grows and studies. So, they conducted a study on three thousand American adolescents, comparing their polygenic points (encoded in DNA ability to learn), environment and success in mathematics. It turned out that if a teenager lives in a dysfunctional family and studying in a bad school, his successes in mathematics will also be quite deplorable - despite natural inclinations. Conversely, students with low polygenic points, students in good schools and living in families with high income showed pretty good mathematical knowledge.

With a request to share our opinions regarding the question of interest to us, we turned to Mathematics Teacher Konstantin button, a member of the jury of mathematical olympiads and a popularizer of science. The button replied: “Genes on success in mathematics affect a much lesser extent than upbringing. I saw a whispering child who had outstanding mathematical abilities, which were explained simply by the fact that he was engaged in a lot and he himself wanted to be like a mathematician.

As for the feeling of number, perhaps the ability to consider objects with one look really innate, but the connection with mathematics here is very indirect. Mathematics is not the ability to consider to any extent, this is the ability to reason. And it is not connected with the possibility of quickly offhand to understand whether six cows or seven are in front of us. Hardwork and perseverance are much more important qualities for the development of mathematics than any other properties. And of course, it is very important that parents deal with the child from birth, and not when they begin to notice some abilities there. ”

Thus, scientists have not yet come to the conclusion whether there are innate abilities for mathematics. However, a much more common opinion is that, whatever the makings, the development of mathematical skills is much more important than a favorable life environment, access to education, as well as the child’s own desire and interest.

Most of the untruth

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Joe Bowler. Mathematical thinking
2. Did Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov say that the mathematics “my mind is put in order”?
3. Is it true that 25-year-old student George Danzig accidentally solved two unresolved mathematical tasks?