Socioeconomic attainment gaps in mathematical ability are evident before children begin school, and widen over time. Little is known about why early attainment gaps emerge. Two cross-sectional correlational studies were conducted in 2018–2019 with socioeconomically diverse preschoolers, to explore four factors that might explain why attainment gaps arise: working memory, inhibitory control, verbal ability, and frequency of home mathematical activities (N = 304, 54% female; 84% White, 10% Asian, 1% black African, 1% Kurdish, 4% mixed ethnicity). Inhibitory control and verbal ability emerged as indirect factors in the relation between socioeconomic status and mathematical ability, but neither working memory nor home activities did. We discuss the implications this has for future research to understand, and work towards narrowing attainment gaps.

中文翻译：

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早期数学能力的社会经济成就差距是如何产生的？


在孩子们上学之前，数学能力的社会经济成就差距就很明显，并且随着时间的推移而扩大。人们对早期成就差距出现的原因知之甚少。 2018 年至 2019 年对社会经济多样化的学龄前儿童进行了两项横断面相关研究，探讨可能解释成绩差距出现的四个因素：工作记忆、抑制控制、语言能力和家庭数学活动频率 ( N = 304, 54 % 女性；84% 白人，10% 亚洲人，1% 非洲黑人，1% 库尔德人，4% 混血儿）。抑制控制和言语能力成为社会经济地位和数学能力之间关系的间接因素，但工作记忆和家庭活动都没有。我们讨论这对未来研究理解的影响，并努力缩小成就差距。