Smaller response-time differences between incongruent and congruent trials (better inhibition) correlate with higher mathematics scores¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2013 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 Children with a smaller RT difference between correctly answered incongruent and congruent trials scored higher on the mathematics achievement test (r = -.27). → Gilmore C 2013

Evidence¶

Gilmore C 2013¶

Gilmore C, Attridge N, Clayton S, Cragg L, Johnson S, Marlow N, Simms V, Inglis M. (2013). Individual Differences in Inhibitory Control, Not Non-Verbal Number Acuity, Correlate with Mathematics Achievement. PLoS ONE 8(6): e67374. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0067374

q3 · i2 · associational · r2

Experiment 1 correlational analysis treating the RT difference between trial types as an index of inhibition skill. Children with "good inhibition skills" showed higher Woodcock-Johnson III calculation scores (r = -.27, p = .015).

"Children with a smaller RT difference between correctly answered incongruent and congruent trials, and thus good inhibition skills, scored higher on the mathematics achievement test than children with a larger RT difference (r = -.27, p = .015)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Flanker task produces congruency effects in reaction time and accuracy in twelve-year-old children — related
• Interference suppression, but not response inhibition, relates to academic achievement and schooling skills — related
• The association between nonsymbolic magnitude comparison and multiplication facts is similar across trial types (OTS/ANS range and congruency), and the symbolic comparison association is similar across numerical distances — related
• Incongruent items in school-topic tasks are generally associated with longer response times and lower accuracy, patterns consistent with inhibitory control recruitment — related
• Congruency effects on both numerical and non-numerical inhibition tasks occur in all three age groups, with an age-by-congruency interaction only on the numerical task — related
• Effortful control positively predicts academic achievement and schooling skills in twelve-year-old children — related
• Better semantic inhibition (smaller Stroop RT cost) is associated with higher accuracy on counterintuitive science and maths misconception trials — related
• Reanalysis of previously-published data replicates the incongruent-trial pattern in children, with a marginal effect in adults — related
• Incongruent dot comparison trials are less accurate and slower than congruent trials, consistent with an added inhibition step — related
• The correlation between dot comparison performance and children's mathematics achievement is driven by incongruent, not congruent, trials — related
• Verbal working memory positively and inhibitory control negatively relate to accuracy in the contrasting multiple-choice task — related
• Both text incongruency and knowledge inaccuracy produce increased reading times on target sentences — related
• Children's inhibitory control is positively related to math achievement as a main effect, independent of parental input — related