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Games are frequently used to promote math learning, yet the competitive and collaborative contexts introduced by games may exacerbate gender differences. In this study, 1st and 2nd grade children in the U.S. (ages 5–8; N = 274; 70% White, 15% Asian, 2% Black, 1% Native American, 14% mixed or other race; 17% Hispanic) played either a competitive, collaborative, or solo game to learn about a challenging novel math concept: proportion. Overall, both social contexts boosted perseverance and task attitudes. However, analyses revealed the competitive condition yielded gender differences in attention to proportion in the presence of competing cues, with older boys underperforming in the competition condition. Potential explanations for these findings, as well as implications for classroom math learning, are discussed.

As early as age six, girls report higher math anxiety than boys, and children of both genders begin to endorse the stereotype that males are better at math than females. However, very few studies have examined the emergence of math attitudes in childhood, or the role parents may play in their transmission. The present study is the first to investigate the concordance of multiple implicit and explicit math attitudes and beliefs between 6‐ and 10‐year‐old children and their parents. Data from implicit association tasks (IATs) reveal that both parents and their children have implicit associations between math and difficulty, but only parents significantly associated math with males. Notably, males (fathers and sons) were more likely than females (mothers and daughters) to identify as someone who likes math (instead of reading), suggesting gender differences in academic preferences emerge early and remain consistent throughout adulthood. Critically, we provide the first evidence that both mothers’ and fathers’ attitudes about math relate to a range of math attitudes and beliefs held by their children, particularly their daughters. Results suggest that girls may be especially sensitive to parental math attitudes and beliefs. Together, data indicate that children entering formal school already show some negative math attitudes and beliefs and that parents’ math attitudes may have a disproportionate impact on young girls.

Introduction MTBI remains on one of the most prevalently reported brain injuries. Previous studies have shown an association between sleep efficiency, performance, and neurocognitive outcome. Reported time-since-injury (TSI) has also shown an association with neurocognitive outcome measures, with some evidence suggesting neurocognitive status is significantly worse at 2 weeks post-injury. Here, we examined differences in self-reported sleep efficiency at various time points since injury among individuals who had sustained an mTBI in the preceding year. Methods 190 Participants [71 male, 119 female], age M=24.48, SD=6.80 (HC, n=39) and five mild TBI groups based on time post-injury, 2-weeks (2W, n=12), 1-month (1M, n=30), 3-months (3M, n=34), 6-months (6M, n=33), and 12-months (12M, n=40) post-injury. Participants completed a cross-sectional study at specific post-injury time points ranging from (2W, 1M, 3M, 6M, 12M). Participants completed comprehensive Repeatable Battery for Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) and were administered the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) at the time of assessment. Here we analyzed the sleep efficiency subscale of the PSQI. Separate correlation analysis examined the association between sleep efficiency and the attention index for each TSI group. Results The ANOVA showed a main effect of TSI group, F(5,182) = 2.83, p=.017. Post Hoc comparisons with the LSD test showed that the 12M group had worse sleep ­efficiency than HC and 2W, 1M, and 3M but did not differ from 6M (p<.05). Separate correlations between sleep efficiency and the attention index of the RBANS for each TSI group showed a marginally significant association at 2W (r(10)=-.467, p=.063, one tailed), and statistically significant at 12M (r(38)=-.266, p=.049, one tailed), suggesting that worse sleep efficiency was associated with worse attention performance at those time points. Conclusion Sleep efficiency differs across the first year of recovery from mTBI. Notably, individuals in the 12M TSI group appear to have worse sleep efficiency than any other TSI group but did not differ from the 6M group. Sleep efficiency appears to be associated with attentional capacity at 2W and 12M timeframes. This suggests that interventions that focus on enhancing sleep in patients with mTBI may prove promising for facilitating recovery. Support (if any) W81XWH-12-1-0386