The Cognitive Mechanism And Neural Substrates Of Adults' Spatial Sub-ability Effects On Mathematical Ability

Mathematical ability is acquired by individuals to process,characterize,transform,and reason about numbers and their related concepts.It includes quantitative ability,arithmetic ability,and probabilistic reasoning ability(Zhou Zheng & Xin Ziqiang,2012).A large number of domestic and foreign studies have shown that spatial abilities and mathematical abilities are closely related.Space abilities can affect the development of mathematical abilities and is an important factor affecting mathematical abilities(Burnett,Lane,& Dratt,1979;Casey,Nuttall,& Pezaris,2001;Casey,Nuttall,Pezaris,& Benbow,1995;Delgado & Prieto,2004;Xie,Zhang,Chen,& Xin,2019).Spatial ability refers to the ability of people to perceive space(Ju Chengting & You Xuqun,2013).It is the perception of the position,shape,relationship between objects,and the path taken by an object when it moves.Individuals can use the perceived spatial information Perform a series of cognitive processing transformations to help individuals identify,manipulate,construct,and locate our external world(Newcombe & Shipley,2015).However,in the past,the spatial capacity structure based on factor analysis was not uniformed and there was confusion in the naming.Therefore,in 2013,Uttal et al.According to the classification system of linguistics,cognition,and neuroscience research,classified spatial capabilities into internal-external Information and dynamic-static information dimensions,reclassifying space capabilities into four types,namely: internal-static space capabilities,internaldynamic space capabilities,external-static space capabilities,external-dynamic space capabilities(Uttal et al.,2013).Combining the previous literature,in the previous research,more people used the mental rotation task to measure individual's spatial ability,and the psychological rotation which belongs to the inner-dynamic spatial ability in the four categories of Uttal space,and there is no systematic analysis of other spatial sub-abilities.Explore its relationship with mathematical ability.At the same time,most previous studies have targeted adolescents and children,and few studies have targeted adults.From infants to adults,the individual's spatial and mathematical abilities are constantly developing and changing.The relationship between individual mathematical and spatial abilities is different in every period.However,there is no system for the spatial and mathematical abilities of the adult population.Moreover,the spatial and mathematical abilities of the adult population tend to be stable.Exploring the relationship between the spatial and mathematical abilities of the adult population can be more clearly identified the main spatial abilities that affect mathematical ability.In addition,the neural basis for the influence of spatial sub-abilities on mathematical abilities is unclear.Therefore,this study intends to systematically explore the impact of adult spatial sub-ability on mathematical ability from the perspective of new spatial ability classification,and further use neuroimaging technology to explore the neural basis of spatial sub-ability affecting mathematical ability.Specifically,Research 1 will use confirmatory factor analysis,structural equation model,and mediation analysis to verify Uttal's spatial ability classification theory from a behavioral level,and systematically explore the effects of different spatial sub-abilities of adults on mathematical ability and their effects.Cognitive mechanisms.In the second study,a voxel-based mophometry(VBM)research method was used to investigate the neural basis responsible for spatial sub-ability and the neural mechanism that affects mathematical ability.Study 1 In order to explore the influence of spatial sub-ability on mathematical ability and cognitive mechanism,this study selected 173 college students and tested them with four tasks which test different spatial sub-abilities and four tasks to test mathematical ability.Space tasks include mental rotation tasks,mosaic graphics tests,horizontal plane tests,and space perspective selection tasks,which measure internal-dynamic space capabilities,internal-static space capabilities,external-static space capabilities,and external-dynamic space capabilities,respectively;mathematical tasks include numbers The size comparison task,non-symbol number size comparison task,calculation task(actuarial and estimation),and digital line task respectively measure digital semantic processing ability,number sensing ability,computing ability,and digital space processing ability.Firstly,this study uses confirmatory factor analysis to explore the rationality of the four categories of Uttal spatial capabilities.Secondly,this study uses correlation analysis,structural equation model and mediation analysis to explore the influence of spatial sub-capacity on mathematical ability and its cognitive mechanism.The results show that:(1)The confirmatory factor analysis model can well fits the four categories of spatial capabilities,and supports the spatial capability classification theory proposed by Uttal.(2)Correlation analysis found that the 3D mental rotation score was significantly positively correlated with the task accuracy rate,actuarial accuracy rate,and estimated accuracy rate,but was significantly negatively correlated with the digital line estimation NP task score and PN score;spatial perspective selection The accuracy rate is significantly positively correlated with the number of non-symbol numbers,the accuracy rate is compared with the number,the actuarial accuracy rate,and the estimated accuracy rate are significantly positively correlated;the mosaic graphics test score and the estimated accuracy rate are significantly positively correlated,and the numerical line estimation NP task and The PN task was significantly negatively correlated;the accuracy of the horizontal plane test was significantly positively correlated with the number of non-symbols,and the number was estimated to be negatively correlated with the NP task score and the PN task score.(3)The results of the structural equation model show that quantitative representation capabilities(including non-symbol number size tests and number size tests)are mainly affected by external-dynamic spatial capabilities(spatial perspective selection tests),while computing capabilities are mainly affected by internal-dynamic spatial capabilities(3D mental rotation test)and external-dynamic spatial capabilities(spatial perspective selection test).(4)Intermediary analysis found that the mental digital line plays a part of the mediating role between the 3D mental rotation accuracy rate and actuarial and estimation.These results show that Uttal's classification of spatial capabilities is reasonable in the adult population.The number of adults is mainly affected by external-dynamic spatial sub-capacity,and computing power is mainly affected by internal-dynamic spatial sub-capability and external-dynamic spatial sub-capability.The influence of internal-dynamic space sub-capacity may affect the individual's computing ability through the processing capacity of the quantitative space(psychological number line).In the second study,in order to explore the neural basis of spatial sub-ability affecting mathematical ability,this study selected 170 college students and used voxel-based morphological analysis(VBM,voxel-based mophometry)research methods to investigate the space The neural basis of sub-ability and the cognitive neural mechanism that affects mathematical ability.The results of the study show that:(1)The 3D mental rotation accuracy rate is significantly negatively correlated with the gray matter volume of the forehead gyrus.The score of the mosaic graphics test is significantly negatively correlated with the gray matter volume of the anterior wedge.The volume of gray matter was significantly negatively correlated,and spatial perspective selection was significantly negatively correlated with the volume of gray matter under the top leaflet.(2)Intermediate analysis found that 3D mental rotation completely mediates the effect of the prefrontal gyrus area on computing power(actuarial power and estimation ability);spatial perspective selection completely mediates the ability of the inferior parietal lobular brain area to quantitative representation(unsigned quantity)Size comparison and number size comparison)and its impact on computing power(actuarial power and estimating power).These results indicate that the structural brain regions of different spatial subcapabilities are different,and the forehead gyrus can affect computing power through internal-dynamic spatial sub-capabilities;.In summary,this study found that:(1)confirmed the rationality of the Uttal spatial capacity four-class theory in the adult population.Adult quantitative characterization ability is mainly affected by external-dynamic spatial sub-abilities,and computing ability is mainly affected by internal-dynamic spatial sub-abilities and external-dynamic spatial sub-abilities.Internal-dynamic spatial sub-capacity affects an individual's computing power through quantitative spatial processing capabilities(psychological digital lines).(2)The structural brain regions of different spatial sub-abilities are different,the frontal gyrus is the key brain region of internal-dynamic spatial sub-ability,the inferior parietal lobe is the key brain region of external-dynamic spatial sub-ability,and the bilateral auxiliary motor area It is the core brain area of the external-static spatial sub-ability,and the anterior lobe area of both sides is the core brain area of the internal-static spatial sub-ability.The forehead gyrus can affect the computing power through the internal-dynamic spatial sub-ability;the top and bottom leaflets can affect the quantitative characterization capacity and computing power through the external-dynamic spatial sub-ability.In conclusion,this study validates the classification of Uttal spatial sub-capacity from the behavioral level and explores the cognitive mechanism of spatial subcapacity influencing mathematical ability.With the help of neuroimaging technology,it explores the neural basis of spatial sub-ability from structural modalities and It affects the cognitive neural mechanism of mathematical ability.This has important theoretical value for filling and perfecting the cognitive neural mechanism of adult spatial sub-ability that affects mathematical ability,and also provides a certain theoretical guidance for improving mathematical ability through spatial ability intervention.