外媒：數學爛？你是傳說中的math disability
In a typical classroom, you’ll find children who are exceptionally good at math while some struggle. Some kids seem to be particularly poor at math, though, showing difficulty even when routinely adding or subtracting even after extensive schooling.
在典型的課堂上，你會找到一些數學非常好的孩子，而另外一些孩子卻在與數學苦苦爭鬥。某些孩子們似乎特別不擅長數學，即便在學校學過，但某些孩子甚至就連加減法都有問題。
A pair of researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center and Stanford University made an extensive review of the current literature and found evidence of a form of ‘math disability’, which is related to dyslexia. Their theory suggests math disability is linked to abnormalities in brain areas supporting procedural memory.
喬治城大學醫療中心和斯坦福大學的兩名研究人員回顧了當代文獻，發現一種與閱讀障礙有關的“數學廢”（math disability）。他們的理論認爲，數學廢與大腦中負責產生記憶的部位異常有關。
Ullman and Tanya M. Evans, who is now a post-doc fellow at Stanford, have come up instead with what they call the “procedural deficit hypothesis.” Their idea is based on current literature that says learning a skill involves both procedural and declarative memory.
Ullman和斯坦福大學的博士後Tanya s共同提出了“程序記憶不足假說”。他們這一基於當代文獻的觀點認爲學習某種技能與程序記憶和陳述性記憶有關。
“We believe that learning math is likely similar to learning other skills,” Evans says. “For example, declarative memory may first be used to consciously learn how to [en]drive, but then with practice driving gradually becomes automatized in procedural memory. However, for some children with math disability, procedural memory may not be working well, so math skills are not automatized.”
Evans說道：“我們認爲學習數學有可能與學習其它技能差不多。比如，我們可能要先利用陳述性記憶來有意識地學習如何開車，接着在程序記憶中慢慢練習開車，最後開車變成自動行爲。然而，對於數學廢兒童而言，他們的程序記憶運轉也許並不順利，因此他們的數學技能並未達到自動化。”
Math, reading or learning a new language depend on both of these learning systems and evidence so far seems to indicate that when procedural memory is impaired, a child may face math disability, dyslexia or developmental language disorder. Declarative memory often compensates but only to an extent.
數學、閱讀和學習新語言都取決於這兩種學習系統，到目前爲止科學家們收集到的證據似乎認爲當程序記憶受損的時候，孩子就會面臨數學廢、閱讀障礙或者發育性語言障礙。有時候陳述性記憶也會彌補程序記憶，但彌補程度有限。
