A recent three-level meta-analysis by Zhu and colleagues synthesized 241 effect sizes from 86 samples of primary school students (mean age = 8.67 years) from studies conducted between 2001 to 2023 to investigate how two types of inhibitory control relate to various math domains (e.g., numerical, arithmetic, logical reasoning, general). The researchers distinguished between two main types of inhibitory control: (1) Interference Inhibition involves filtering out distracting information, like resisting the bias that a larger denominator means a larger fraction; and (2) response Inhibition focuses on controlling impulsive actions, like carefully considering a problem before blurting out an answer.
After removing two outlier effect sizes, the meta-analysis revealed a small positive correlation (r=0.19) between inhibitory control and overall math ability indicating that better inhibitory control is correlated with better math skills. The relationship was significantly stronger for interference inhibition (r=0.21) than response inhibition (r=0.14). Subgroup analyses revealed that the correlations between interference inhibition and various math domains (ranging from r=0.18 to r=0.27) were generally stronger than those for response inhibition across these domains (ranging from r=-0.01 to r=0.19).
The relationship between inhibitory control and mathematical ability was not moderated by domains of mathematical ability and inhibitory control task. However, pairwise comparison indicated that the link between arithmetical ability and interference inhibition (r = 0.23) was significantly stronger than the correlation between arithmetical ability and response inhibition (r = 0.12). Moreover, inhibit control measured by the Random generation task (r=0.39) was more strongly associated with math ability than when measured by the Go/No-go task (r=0.17) and other tasks (r=0.16). No significant moderation effects were found among demographic characteristics such as age, developmental status, and sample region.
This research highlights the stable influence of inhibitory control on math ability across various mathematical domains, measurement tasks, and demographic characteristics. The practical implications of these findings are discussed within the paper.
Source: Zhu, X., Tang, Y., Lu, J., Song, M., Yang, C., & Zhao, X. (2024). Inhibitory control and mathematical ability in elementary school children: A preregistered meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 37(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09976-w