Visual distraction, inhibitory control, and children’s math performance

Introduction Although the relation between aspects of executive functioning and math performance is well established, the role of children’s inhibitory abilities remains controversial. In this study, we examined whether children’s arithmetic estimation performance is related to their performance on a set of inhibitory control tasks that included visual distractors. Methods The children ( N = 321; 41.1% boys) were from 3rd grade and recruited from six Hong Kong primary schools. In addition to the math and inhibitory tasks, they were administered a set of updating and working memory tasks, as well as a simple processing speed task. Results Significant distraction effects were observed on both the math and inhibitory tasks. Conventional inhibitory cost measures revealed significant associations between response time on some of the math and inhibitory tasks. However, stepwise regression and path analyses that help identify conditions in the inhibitory tasks that contribute to the significant associations suggest that individual differences in inhibitory abilities do not explain variance in the math tasks. Discussion The significant associations between some of the inhibitory measures and math performance seem to stem from commonality in problem-solving skills, task engagement, or efficiency in rule-based decision making. From a practical viewpoint, the main finding that there is a significant distraction effect suggests that to enhance primary students’ math performance, teachers should create classroom environments with minimal distractions, taking active roles to help them maintain focus.