Enhancing student’s math achievement is a significant educational challenge. Numerous studies have shown that math attitudes can predict improvement in math performance, but no study has yet revealed the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms explaining this effect. To answer this question, 50 children underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) when they were 11 (time 1; T1) and 13 (time 2; T2) years old. Children solved a rhyming judgment and a single-digit multiplication task inside the scanner at T1. The rhyming task was used to independently define a verbal region of interest in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). We focused on this region because of previous evidence showing math attitudes-related effects in the left IFG for children with low math skill (Demir-Lira et al., 2019). Children completed standardized testing of math attitudes at T1 and of multiplication skill both at T1 and T2. We performed a cluster-wise regression analysis to investigate the interaction between math attitudes and improvement in multiplication skill over time while controlling for the main effects of these variables, intelligence, and accuracy on the task. This analysis revealed a significant interaction in the left IFG, which was due to improvers with positive math attitudes showing enhanced activation. Our result suggests that IFG activation, possibly reflecting effort invested in retrieving multiplication facts, is one of the possible neurocognitive mechanism by which children with positive math attitudes improve in multiplication skill. Our finding suggests that teachers and parents can help children do better in math by promoting positive math attitudes.

提高学生的数学成绩是一项重大的教育挑战。大量研究表明，数学态度可以预测数学成绩的提高，但尚未有研究揭示解释这种效应的潜在神经认知机制。为了回答这个问题，50 名儿童在 11 岁（时间 1；T1）和 13 岁（时间 2；T2）时接受了功能磁共振成像 (fMRI)。孩子们在 T1 的扫描仪内解决了押韵判断和个位数乘法任务。押韵任务用于独立定义左额下回（IFG）的语言兴趣区域。我们之所以关注这一区域，是因为之前的证据表明，对于数学技能较低的儿童，左侧 IFG 存在与数学态度相关的影响（Demir-Lira 等人，2019）。孩子们在 T1 时完成了数学态度的标准化测试，并在 T1 和 T2 时完成了乘法技能的标准化测试。我们进行了聚类回归分析，以研究数学态度与乘法技能随时间的提高之间的相互作用，同时控制这些变量、智力和准确性对任务的主要影响。该分析揭示了左 IFG 中存在显着的相互作用，这是由于具有积极数学态度的改进者表现出增强的激活。我们的结果表明，IFG 激活可能反映了在检索乘法事实方面投入的努力，是具有积极数学态度的儿童提高乘法技能的可能神经认知机制之一。我们的研究结果表明，教师和家长可以通过培养积极的数学态度来帮助孩子在数学上取得更好的成绩。