Ramirez et al.
ABSTRACT
In the current study, we explored whether math anxiety relates to young children’s math
achievement. One hundred and fifty-four first- and second-grade children (69 boys, 85 girls)
were given a measure of math achievement and working memory (WM). Several days later,
children’s math anxiety was assessed using a newly developed scale. Paralleling work with
adults (Beilock, 2008), we found a negative relation between math anxiety and math
achievement for children who were higher but not lower in WM. High-WM individuals tend to
rely on WM-intensive solution strategies, and these strategies are likely disrupted when WM
capacity is co-opted by math anxiety. We argue that early identification and treatment of
math anxieties is important because these early anxieties may snowball and eventually lead
students with the highest potential (i.e., those with higher WM) to avoid math courses and
math-related career choices.
WM kan gezien worden als een individuele variabele; de ene heeft het nu eenmaal meer dan
de ander. Dan zouden we stellen: hoe hoger de WM capaciteit, hoe hoger de prestaties op
bijvoorbeeld rekentaken.
One might imagine that those with higher WM would be best equipped to deal with
the difficulties associated with anxiety in educational settings. Lower-WM individuals,
on the other hand, are thought to have limited capacity for problem computations to
begin with, which means that anxiety-induced consumption of WM may shrink this
available capacity below the level needed to successfully solve difficult math
problems.
Maar, er is ook een ander standpunt waar tegenwoordig veel bewijs voor wordt gevonden.
Higher-WM individuals might be more prone to poor performance as a function of
math anxiety. If high-WM students rely heavily on problem-solving strategies that load
WM and math anxiety specifically targets the WM system, this may make high-WM
students’ performance susceptible to the impact of anxiety. In contrast, low-WM
students may rely on shortcuts or heuristic strategies to solve math problems
precisely because they cannot hold demanding problem-solving algorithms in WM.
Under this view, if anxiety negatively impacts the WM system, low-WM students
would in a sense have little or nothing to lose compared with high-WM students.
In the absence of pressure, students with high WM outperformed low-WM students in
their problem-solving accuracy. However, when individuals were asked to solve a
similar block of math problems under high pressure, high-WM students’ math
performance fell to the level of those with low WM. Importantly, these effects were
limited to difficult math problems that required the most WM.
Hypothesen
Based on these findings, we hypothesized that young children who are high in WM
may be most vulnerable to performing poorly in math as a function of self-reported
math anxiety. Hence, we predicted that if math anxiety exists among our young study
sample, it would be negatively associated with math achievement particularly among
high-WM children (Ackerman, 1988; Barrouillet & Le´pine, 2005). Furthermore, to
establish that our math anxiety measure relates specifically to math achievement and
is not simply a proxy measure for general academic anxiety, we asked students to
complete a measure of reading achievement as well as a measure of math
achievement. Our prediction was that higher-WM children would show a negative
relation between self-reported math anxiety and math but not reading achievement.
Results
Child Math Anxiety Questionnaire
o Thus, children as early as first and second grade reported feeling ‘‘nervous’’
for various math-related situations, but these feelings of nervousness were not
ABSTRACT
In the current study, we explored whether math anxiety relates to young children’s math
achievement. One hundred and fifty-four first- and second-grade children (69 boys, 85 girls)
were given a measure of math achievement and working memory (WM). Several days later,
children’s math anxiety was assessed using a newly developed scale. Paralleling work with
adults (Beilock, 2008), we found a negative relation between math anxiety and math
achievement for children who were higher but not lower in WM. High-WM individuals tend to
rely on WM-intensive solution strategies, and these strategies are likely disrupted when WM
capacity is co-opted by math anxiety. We argue that early identification and treatment of
math anxieties is important because these early anxieties may snowball and eventually lead
students with the highest potential (i.e., those with higher WM) to avoid math courses and
math-related career choices.
WM kan gezien worden als een individuele variabele; de ene heeft het nu eenmaal meer dan
de ander. Dan zouden we stellen: hoe hoger de WM capaciteit, hoe hoger de prestaties op
bijvoorbeeld rekentaken.
One might imagine that those with higher WM would be best equipped to deal with
the difficulties associated with anxiety in educational settings. Lower-WM individuals,
on the other hand, are thought to have limited capacity for problem computations to
begin with, which means that anxiety-induced consumption of WM may shrink this
available capacity below the level needed to successfully solve difficult math
problems.
Maar, er is ook een ander standpunt waar tegenwoordig veel bewijs voor wordt gevonden.
Higher-WM individuals might be more prone to poor performance as a function of
math anxiety. If high-WM students rely heavily on problem-solving strategies that load
WM and math anxiety specifically targets the WM system, this may make high-WM
students’ performance susceptible to the impact of anxiety. In contrast, low-WM
students may rely on shortcuts or heuristic strategies to solve math problems
precisely because they cannot hold demanding problem-solving algorithms in WM.
Under this view, if anxiety negatively impacts the WM system, low-WM students
would in a sense have little or nothing to lose compared with high-WM students.
In the absence of pressure, students with high WM outperformed low-WM students in
their problem-solving accuracy. However, when individuals were asked to solve a
similar block of math problems under high pressure, high-WM students’ math
performance fell to the level of those with low WM. Importantly, these effects were
limited to difficult math problems that required the most WM.
Hypothesen
Based on these findings, we hypothesized that young children who are high in WM
may be most vulnerable to performing poorly in math as a function of self-reported
math anxiety. Hence, we predicted that if math anxiety exists among our young study
sample, it would be negatively associated with math achievement particularly among
high-WM children (Ackerman, 1988; Barrouillet & Le´pine, 2005). Furthermore, to
establish that our math anxiety measure relates specifically to math achievement and
is not simply a proxy measure for general academic anxiety, we asked students to
complete a measure of reading achievement as well as a measure of math
achievement. Our prediction was that higher-WM children would show a negative
relation between self-reported math anxiety and math but not reading achievement.
Results
Child Math Anxiety Questionnaire
o Thus, children as early as first and second grade reported feeling ‘‘nervous’’
for various math-related situations, but these feelings of nervousness were not
