Deductive Reasoning and Math Learning Difficulty

Most studies to date that have examined the factors underlying math achievement in children have focused on basic numerical knowledge. Yet, math skills are clearly not limited to basic numerical knowledge and recent behavioral studies suggest a relationship between math and deductive reasoning skills. The goal of this study is to determine the neural mediators of this relationship using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The investigators will ask children from 8 to 14 to complete a standardized math achievement test, and measure their brain activity while they process deductive arguments. The investigators will then correlate brain activity during reasoning to individual math skills to identify the brain regions in which activity during reasoning is modulated by math skill.