Is mathematics talent inherited?Scientific answer is here

01

When people are looking for the genetic foundation of mathematics talents, they usually use a method to test the correlation between siblings, especially the twins of the same oval.

The same oval twins have the same genotypes and often show similar levels in mathematics. There are only half of the genes that are shared by heteroles, and there are large differences in mathematical results. Sometimes one mathematics is good, while the other is average. Through more pairs of campaign twins and different egg twins, "genetic force" can be measured. According to the research conducted by Steven Vandenberg in the 1960s, the impact of genetic genetics on mathematics accounted for 50%, indicating that about half of the mathematical performance differences were caused by individual genetic differences.

However, this explanation is still very controversial. In fact, the research methods of twins are affected by many details. For example, studies have shown that compared with the twins, the same ovarian twins often receive the same education because of the same classroom and the same teacher. They have similar talents, maybe they receive the same education rather than having the same genes.

Another potential impact is that in the mother's uterus, nearly 70%of the same oval twins share a placenta or the same set of embryonic membranes. Obviously, this situation will not occur in the twin children, because they come from independent eggs. Similar biochemical ingredients in the uterine environment make the brain development of the same ovarian twins the same. Even if the heredity of mathematics talents has been proven, the research methods of twins cannot clarify what genes this research process involves.

The genes involved in the study are likely not to be directly related to mathematics.

For an extreme example, assuming a gene affects the figure. If its carrier often play basketball and ignore mathematical education, then this gene may have a negative impact on mathematical ability!

In the process of exploring mathematical talents, another vague but interesting clue is the difference between men and women. High -level mathematics is almost only male. In Steven Smith's book about outstanding mental arithmetic, he described 41 computing wizards, of which only three were women.

In the United States, Camilla Benbo and her colleagues have compiled a test for young people 12-Mathematical Learning Attitude Test (SAT-M). The average score is about 500 points. The proportion of boys and girls above 500 points is 2: 1; more than 600 points, the ratio of male and girls reaches 4: 1; 700 points or more, the proportion of male and girls is 13: 1 (see Figure 1). With the gradual increase of students studying mathematics, the proportion of men has increased significantly. This kind of male advantage in mathematics exists in all countries, from China to Belgium. Men's mathematical advantage is a worldwide phenomenon.

Camilla Benbo's sampling comes from talented seventh grade students. Standard ability test results show that men have a stable and weak advantage in mathematics. In terms of speech scores, the distribution of men and women is almost exactly the same.

Figure 1 Test for adolescent mathematical learning attitude tests

Source: Re -printed from Benbow, 1988, all rights reserved © 1988 by Cambridge University Press, which was authorized by the publisher.

However, this phenomenon is limited to the general population, and only mathematical elites are almost all composed of men. In the entire crowd, men's advantages in mathematics are weak.

In psychological tests, the measurement of gender effects is to distinguish the average difference between men and women through the statistics of the discrete level of each gender. In teenagers, this value usually does not exceed half, that is, the scores of men and women are largely overlap: 1/3 of men's scores are lower than women's average scores, or, instead, 1/3 of women's scores, 1/3 women's scores Higher than the average score of men. Men's advantages will also change due to different content of the test.

In terms of solving mathematical problems, men are obviously ahead, but in terms of mental arithmetic, women lead with weak advantages. In the end, the difference between men and women appeared at the beginning of the kindergarten, and before that, men had any systematic advantages in mathematics. Especially in early infants, men's mathematics ability is not better than women.

02

Despite these advantages, men's hegemony in high levels of mathematics still has important problems. In our education system, mathematics plays the role of filters at several key stages, and it is easier for boys to pass every stage than girls. In the end, women in our society rarely have the opportunity to obtain top -level training in mathematics, physical or engineering.

Sociologists, biologists, and politicians all want to know whether the distribution of educational resources reflects the talent of each gender, or whether to maintain the bias of men in the society where men's rule.

There is no doubt that many factors of psychology and sociology have made women in an unfavorable situation in mathematics. The survey shows that on average, women show more anxiety than men in mathematics courses; they are not confident in their ability; they believe that mathematics is a typical male activity, and rarely in their career Use. In addition, their parents, especially their father, will have the same views.

Obviously, these stereotypes have gradually formed a prediction of self -realization. Many young women lack their enthusiasm for mathematics. They firmly believe that they will not build a deed in this field. This has led them to ignore mathematical courses and therefore leading them to the lower level of mathematics in mathematics. Similar stereotypes have led to the differences in mathematical achievements in social classes. I firmly believe that the social prejudice of mathematics has greatly affected the differences between men and women, poor and rich in mathematics scores. By changing people's attitudes towards mathematics in policies and society, it can make up for this difference.

For example, in China, the mathematics scores obtained by better women and adolescents not only exceed the American teenagers of the United States, but also surpass American male teenagers. This proves that the influence caused by gender differences is less than the impact of education strategies. A meta -analysis of a variety of literature shows that the average difference between American men and women in mathematics scores has been reduced by half in 30 years, with this progress accompanied by the improvement of women's status in the same period.

So, does the difference in gender differences still play a role in other gaps? Although no decisive factors related to the advantages of male mathematics have been found in neurological biology or genetics, more and more clues have prompted people to start doubt that biocarbility will indeed affect mathematical talents, although this influence is fine.

Someone chose a group of children with mathematics, and found that the proportion of boys and girls was 13: 1. Compared with that group of unsecured children, these talented children may have 2 times allergic diseases, 4 times that may be myopia, and 2 times that may be left. These potential mathematicians, more than 50%of them are left -handed or dual -profit hands, or they are right -handed hands, but their brothers and sisters are left. In the end, 60%of them were the eldest son. Obviously, the scholars' prototypes are imagined as a left -handed hand, illness, and the only child wearing glasses is not completely unprecedented!

We can eliminate the connection between myopia and mathematical genius by introducing a factor in attitude. Perhaps children of myopia are more willing to study mathematics because they perform poorly in baseball. There are similar explanations for the order of birth. Perhaps there is a subtle difference between the education received by the eldest son. This kind of education encourages mathematical thinking in some way. It is not easy to find this "mild" explanation for allergies and bravers.

03

In addition, there are some extreme but conclusive cases, which are obviously affected by gender -related nerve abnormalities. For example, most of the calculated genius in "mental disabilities" suffer from autism. The incidence of this nervous systemic disease in a boy is 4 times that of girls. Indeed, autism is related to the mutation of X chromosomes, such as crispy X syndrome.

Instead, Turner syndrome is a genetic disease that only affects women, which is related to the lack of X chromosomes. In fact, in addition to the malformations of some bodies, women suffering from Tena's syndrome will also show serious specific cognitive impairment in mathematical and spatial psychological representation, although their IQ may be at a normal level. Part of the reason is that ovarian atrophy causes abnormal sex hormone secretion. In fact, early hormone therapy can improve their cognitive performance in mathematics and space.

We still do not find a satisfactory explanation for gender, X chromosome, hormone, sharp hands, allergies, order of birth, and mathematics. What we can do today is to describe the most likely causal chain in a way of creative impressionist paintings. Some scientists call it "the original story."

Neural psychologist Norman Ge Schwen and his colleagues believe that the rise of testosterone levels during pregnancy may also affect the differentiation of the immune system and brain hemisphere. Testosterone may cause the development of the left hemisphere of the brain to slow down. It is speculated that the possibility of the left -handed hand will increase as a result. At the same time, the operation ability of the spatial psychological characteristics of the space processing of the right hemisphere of the brain will also increase.

This fine space will turn easier to manipulate mathematical concepts. Because testosterone is a male hormone, the impact of this assumption may have a larger effect on men than women. At the same time, it is not difficult to understand that it may be controlled by some genes of X chromosome, which explains the genetic tendency of mathematics and space.

There are many clues around this phenomenon that is puzzled to this day, including such a :rogen hormone can directly affect the tissue structure of the brain in development. During the development process, there is a change in space and mathematical processing process at the abnormal level of sexual hormones. This change in women at different stages of menstrual cycle. The female who did not receive treatment and caught up with the males who were not treated; during the first pregnancy, the concentration of sex hormones in the uterus was higher (remember, most mathematical geniuses were the eldest son).

Under the influence of this hormone change, the organizational form of the male brain may be slightly different from women. The neural circuit may have changed subtle changes in a way that is still unknown so far, which can explain why men have slightly agile energy in abstract mathematical space.

In view of the current level of knowledge, it is impossible to find a simple and certain explanation of a mathematical talent, but it is naive to have a direct connection between genes and genius. The distance between them is so large that only a variety of distorted causality chains can fill the gap between them. The emergence of geniuses is the result of the integration of various factors, including genetic, hormone, family factors, and education. Biological factors and environmental effects are intertwined in an unbreakable causal chain. It is impossible to give birth to a little Einstein through biology predicting genius or let the two Nobel Prize winners combine.

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