Article: executive function and math skills

Beyond IQ: Kids Who Can Focus on the Task at Hand Do Better in Math

Scientific American

Attention span and reasoning may get higher marks than intelligence, especially in math

Turnsout that sheer intelligence is not enough to become a young math whiz.It also takes a good attention span and training your mind to "selfregulate" or focus on the task at hand.
The measure for academic success for decades has been aperson's intelligence quotient, or IQ. But new research published inthe journal Child Development says that a thought processcalled "executive functioning," which governs the ability to reason andmentally focus, also plays a critical role in learning, especially whenit comes to math skills.
"It's often thought that kids don't do well because they'redumb, and there's nothing we can do about it," says lead study authorClancy Blair, associate professor of human development and familystudies at Pennsylvania State University. "But not only is executivefunction pivotal for academic success, it's amenable to training, andthis training might make a big difference in a child?s ability."

The rest of this fascinating article can be found at http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=90377FAE-E7F2-99DF-3A1204FC5F2BF0F7