The study tested the hypothesis that there are sex differences in the pathways to mathematical development. Three hundred forty-two adolescents (169 boys) were assessed in various mathematics areas from arithmetic fluency to algebra across 6th to 9th grade, inclusive, and completed a battery of working memory, spatial, and intelligence measures in middle school. Their middle school and 9th grade teachers reported on their in-class attentive behavior. There were no sex differences in overall mathematics performance, but boys had advantages on all spatial measures (ds = .29 to .58) and girls were more attentive in classroom settings (ds = -.28 to -.37). A series of structural equation models indicated that 6th- to 9th-grade mathematical competence was influenced by a combination of general cognitive ability, spatial abilities, and in-class attention. General cognitive ability was important for both sexes but the spatial pathway to mathematical competence was relatively more important for boys and the in-class attention pathway for girls.

中文翻译：

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数学能力发展途径的性别差异。


该研究检验了数学发展途径存在性别差异的假设。六至九年级的 342 名青少年（169 名男孩）接受了从算术流利度到代数等各个数学领域的评估，并在中学完成了一系列工作记忆、空间和智力测量。他们的中学和九年级老师报告了他们在课堂上的专注行为。整体数学成绩没有性别差异，但男孩在所有空间测量上都具有优势（ds = .29 至 .58），女孩在课堂环境中更专心（ds = -.28 至 -.37）。一系列结构方程模型表明，六至九年级的数学能力受到一般认知能力、空间能力和课堂注意力的综合影响。一般认知能力对男女都很重要，但数学能力的空间途径对男孩相对更重要，而课堂注意力途径对女孩相对更重要。