能否學好數學由基因決定 與智商無關

Innate talent? New research shows that there is a link between an in-built 'number sense' and maths ability If you struggle with figures, you were probably born that way, research has suggested. Being good at mathematics may be entirely pre-destined – you either have it or you don’t. And those who find the numbers never add up shouldn’t feel too dim – mathematical talent does not appear to be linked to all-round intelligence.

還在爲自己的孩子的“奧數成績”而苦惱麼？還在花重金培養孩子的數學運算能力麼？最新研究表明，孩子學數學的好壞程度與後天培養並無直接關係，一切都是老天註定的，基因決定的，也就是說，孩子數學好不好，一生下來就已經註定了。那些數學不好的孩子們千萬別灰心喪氣，因爲數學不好與智力無關。

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Previous research has indicated that ‘number sense’ is basic to humans. We use it to estimate such things as the number of seats in a cinema or crowd sizes. U.S. psychologists at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore made their finding after testing children too young to have been taught mathematics. During the study, 200 four-year-olds viewed flashing groups of blue and yellow dots on a computer screen and were asked which colour was shown the most. The children then had to count items on a page, determine which of two numbers was greater or lesser, as well as read numbers. They were also tested on calculation skills, such as multiplication. The participants’ parents were then asked about their child’s vocabulary.

之前的許多研究報告將所謂的“數字能力”與人類的智力程度聯繫在一起，我們用“數字感覺”來計算在我們身邊的所有可以用來做算術題的東西，比如說電影院的座椅等等。然而，來自Johns Hopkins大學的心理學家卻認爲我們讓我們的孩子過早接觸數學，有一項針對200名年僅4歲兒童的研究測試了兒童的“數字能力”與“語言能力”之間的關係。

The verbal test was done because language and maths abilities are thought to be linked through general intelligence. The researchers wanted to be sure success in maths was not part of an ability to perform better in all sorts of tasks or to some children feeling more comfortable being tested than others.

這項研究在“數字能力”與“語言能力”之間在已經被認定兩者與智力關係密切的情況下提供相應的反證，研究人員希望能證明數學好的人並不是在任何方面都能取得優秀的成績，雖然，在高中文理科分班有一條不成文的道理，那就是所謂的----理轉文輕而易舉，文科要是想轉理科那就是難於上青天了。The results, published in the journal Developmental Science, showed that children who got the best score in the dots test were also the most competent at the maths tests.

據悉，在實驗中，所謂的“點測試”成績優秀的孩子在數學測試上也十分不錯。

Dr Melissa Libertus, who led the study, said: ‘Previous studies testing older children left open the possibility that maths lessons determined number sense. ‘In other words, some children looked like they had better number sense simply because they had better maths instruction. ‘Unlike those studies, this one shows that the link between number sense and maths ability is already present before the beginning of formal maths instruction. ‘One of the most important questions is whether we can train a child’s number sense to improving his future maths ability.’

領銜實驗的研究員Dr Melissa Libertus說：“以前的研究不斷的告訴我們，數學的後天培養，後天的教育對提高數學成績有至關重要的作用，然而，我們的研究卻證明數學能力是先天就已經註定好了的，與後天的培養沒有任何關係。我們的面臨的問題在於我們是否可以通過培養孩子對數字的感覺來提高他在未來的邏輯能力。”