Generalist Genes influence both reading and math ability

Nature Communications 5, Article number: 4204 doi:10.1038/ncomms5204

The correlation between reading and mathematics ability at age twelve has a substantial genetic component

Oliver S. P. Davis

Dissecting how genetic and environmental influences impact on learning is helpful for maximizing numeracy and literacy. Here we show, using twin and genome-wide analysis, that there is a substantial genetic component to children’s ability in reading and mathematics, and estimate that around one half of the observed correlation in these traits is due to shared genetic effects (so-called Generalist Genes). Thus, our results highlight the potential role of the learning environment in contributing to differences in a child’s cognitive abilities at age twelve.

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Shortage of female math geniuses not due to "stereotype threat"

Men are over-represented at the high end of math performance: there are more male math geniuses than female ones.

A theory that was proposed to explain that fact is that of stereotype threat. According to this theory, there is a stereotype in society that "women are bad in math"; women internalize this stereotype and lose confidence about their math abilities, and so they tend to perform sub-optimally in math tests, hence rendering the idea of "women are bad in math" a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This new study demonstrates that much of the literature that has accumulated around the idea of a "stereotype threat" can be relegated to the trash bin, and those who hope that fighting the stereotype will lead to more females joining the mathematical elite have their work cut out for them.

A video on the topic by the first author:






Review of General Psychology, Jan 16 , 2012, No Pagination Specified. doi: 10.1037/a0026617

Can stereotype threat explain the gender gap in mathematics performance and achievement?

Stoet, Gijsbert; Geary David C.

Men and women score similarly in most areas of mathematics, but a gap favoring men is consistently found at the high end of performance. One explanation for this gap, stereotype threat, was first proposed by Spencer, Steele, and Quinn (1999) and has received much attention. We discuss merits and shortcomings of this study and review replication attempts. Only 55% of the articles with experimental designs that could have replicated the original results did so. But half of these were confounded by statistical adjustment of preexisting mathematics exam scores. Of the unconfounded experiments, only 30% replicated the original. A meta-analysis of these effects confirmed that only the group of studies with adjusted mathematics scores displayed the stereotype threat effect. We conclude that although stereotype threat may affect some women, the existing state of knowledge does not support the current level of enthusiasm for this as a mechanism underlying the gender gap in mathematics. We argue there are many reasons to close this gap, and that too much weight on the stereotype explanation may hamper research and implementation of effective interventions.

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Mathematical structure of Platonic dialogues (?)

J. B. Kennedy proposes that Plato organized his dialogues in mathematical form. His argument is mostly found in 'Plato's Forms, Pythagorean Mathematics, and Stichometry', but there is some interesting additional material in his site, and, apparently, a planned book on the subject. The story has found its way to the popular press, without, unfortunately, a lack of journalistic hyperbole thrown in.

I was first suspicious of the notion of a Plato Code, as the name itself reminds one of the discredit Bible Code, but Kennedy proposes something more down-to-earth, namely that Plato used Pythagorean musical principles in the organization of his dialogues. Three main claims stand out: (i) that dialogues have an internal organization in which high points are placed in 1/12ths, corresponding to notes of a musical scale, (ii) that positive and negative turns of the dialogue correspond to consonant intervals of the scale, and this may allow us to discover what Plato "really thought" in open-ended dialogues, and (iii) that different dialogues have a different length of their 1/12th unit, which stretch from 100 lines for the Apology to 1000 lines for the Republic and 1200 lines for the Laws. Kennedy makes several interesting observations on his material, including an apparent lack of this mathematical structure in some of the Platonica that are universally acknowledged to be spurious.

Is it plausible that Plato went into all this trouble? Kennedy cites some pieces of evidence in favor of his Platonic stichometry thesis. In my opinion, the thesis is plausible: the "secret structure" may sound like a conspiracy theory, yet Plato himself (in the 7th epistle) argued against revealing the highest doctrines to the polloi, and (in the Republic) proposed that the advanced study of geometry and astronomy should be revealed -after preparation- to the guardian class. The idea that Plato had a secret mathematical doctrine, discussed only within the walls of the Academy, also finds support in Aristotle, who recounts the tale of Plato's Lecture on the Good, which ended in disaster when Plato attempted to present his geometrical arguments about the One to a lay audience. And, the relationship between the world created by the demiurge, music, and mathematical proportion is famously presented in the Timaeus.

Could it be that as the Timaean demiurge looked at the eternal model of number and proportion to fashion the universe as an expression of a musical scale, so did Plato, as the demiurge of his philosophical universe? It is an intriguing idea.

Even though Kennedy's thesis does not sound like a simple case of quackery, and circumstantial evidence lends it a level of initial credibility, the main weakness of the paper is its lack of statistical elaboration, and its reliance on expert judgments.

Perhaps there is evidence that key themes coincide with 1/12ths, but how many key themes are placed in-between notes? A thorough breakdown of the dialogues based on who is speaking, the topic of discussion, the tone, etc. would allow us to better appreciate whether or not the proposed structure actually exists.