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This research was supported by the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos and by grants from the National Science Foundation (SMA-1640889, HRD-1661285), and the Bezos Family Foundation.

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Paz-Albo, JAuthorLlacer, CvhAuthorHervas-Escobar, AAuthor

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Math Is for Me: A Field Intervention to Strengthen Math Self-Concepts in Spanish-Speaking 3rd Grade Children

Publicated to:Frontiers In Psychology. 11 (593995): 593995- - 2020-11-23 11(593995), DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.593995

Authors: Cvencek, Dario; Paz-Albo, Jesus; Master, Allison; Herranz Llacer, Cristina V; Hervas-Escobar, Aranzazu; Meltzoff, Andrew N

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Abstract

Children's math self-concepts-their beliefs about themselves and math-are important for teachers, parents, and students, because they are linked to academic motivation, choices, and outcomes. There have been several attempts at improving math achievement based on the training of math skills. Here we took a complementary approach and conducted an intervention study to boost children's math self-concepts. Our primary objective was to assess the feasibility of whether a novel multicomponent intervention-one that combines explicit and implicit approaches to help children form more positive beliefs linking themselves and math-can be administered in an authentic school setting. The intervention was conducted in Spain, a country in which math achievement is below the average of other OECD countries. We tested third grade students (N = 180; M-age = 8.79 years; 96 girls), using treatment and comparison groups and pre- and posttest assessments. A novelty of this study is that we used both implicit and explicit measures of children's math self-concepts. For a subsample of students, we also obtained an assessment of year-end math achievement. Math self-concepts in the treatment and comparison groups did not significantly differ at pretest. Students in the treatment group demonstrated a significant increase in math self-concepts from pretest to posttest; students in the comparison group did not. In the treatment group, implicit math self-concepts at posttest were associated with higher year-end math achievement, assessed approximately 3 months after the completion of the intervention. Taken together, the results suggest that math self-concepts are malleable and that social-cognitive interventions can boost children's beliefs about themselves and math. Based on the favorable results of this feasibility study, it is appropriate to formally test this novel multicomponent approach for improving math self-concepts using randomized controlled trial (RCT) design.

Keywords

AchievementAttitudesCompetenceElementary schoolEngagementGender stereotypesImplicitImplicit cognitionIntelligenceInterventionLikert scalesMath achievementMath self-conceptMotivationSchoolSpanish-speaking children

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Frontiers In Psychology due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2020, it was in position 43/140, thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Psychology, Multidisciplinary. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q2 para la agencia Scopus (SJR) en la categoría Psychology (Miscellaneous).

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 2.27, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-06, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 9
  • Scopus: 10
  • Europe PMC: 1
  • OpenCitations: 9

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-06:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 37.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 35 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 13.7.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 17 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: United States of America.