Maths anxiety in primary and secondary school students: Gender differences, developmental changes and anxiety specificity

Hill, Francesca; Mammarella, Irene C.; Devine, Amy; Caviola, Sara; Passolunghi, Maria Chiara; Szűcs, Dénes

doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2016.02.006

Cited by 265 publications

(275 citation statements)

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“…The results showed that around 30% of students reported feeling helpless or nervous when faced with math problems, and negative feelings towards math are also associated with lower school performance. Special attention has been paid to MA and its impact on mathematical learning: an ever-growing body of research has recognised that anxiety states and worry experienced during math classes or related activities are significant factors with a negative influence on math learning and basic numerical abilities in both adults (Bursal & Paznokas, 2006;Jameson & Fusco, 2014;Pozehl, 1996;Maloney & Beilock, 2012;McMullan, Jones, & Lea, 2010;Swars, Daane, & Giesen, 2006) and children (Hill et al, 2016;Wu, Barth, Amin, Malcarne, & Menon, 2012). MA thus seems to have serious consequences, not only in the short term (on math performance at school), but also in the long term, adversely influencing an individual's choice of career, type of occupation and professional growth in adulthood (Ashcraft & Ridley, 2005;Beasley, Long, & Natali, 2001;Chipman, Krantz, & Silver, 1992;Hembree, 1990;Ho et al, 2000).…”

Section: Thinking and Reasoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are there gender differences in cognitive reflection? Invariance and differences related to mathematics

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Chiesi

et al. 2017

Thinking & Reasoning

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CognitiveCognitive reflection is recognized as an important skill, which is necessary for making advantageous decisions. Even though gender differences in the Cognitive Reflection test (CRT) appear to be robust across multiple studies, little research has examined the source of the gender gap in performance. In Study 1, we tested the invariance of the scale across genders. In Study 2, we investigated the role of math anxiety, mathematical reasoning, and gender in CRT performance. The results attested the measurement equivalence of the Cognitive Reflection Test -Long (CRT-L), when administered to male and female students. Additionally, the results of the mediation analysis showed an indirect effect of gender on CRT-L performance through mathematical reasoning and math anxiety. The direct effect of gender was no longer statistically significant after accounting for the other variables. The current findings suggest that cognitive reflection is affected by numerical skills and related feelings. ARTICLE HISTORY

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Section: Thinking and Reasoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are there gender differences in cognitive reflection? Invariance and differences related to mathematics

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Donati

Chiesi

et al. 2017

Thinking & Reasoning

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“…In the work with young children, the evidence is mixed, however, as three studies found that math anxiety was correlated with general anxiety (Wu et al, 2014; Cargnelutti et al, 2016; Hill et al, 2016) and two studies found no relation (Gierl and Bisanz, 1995; Wu et al, 2012). Hence, it is unclear from the literature how math anxiety and general anxiety may be related for young children.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Development and Validation of a Revised Version of the Math Anxiety Scale for Young Children

Ganley

McGraw

2016

Front. Psychol.

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Although there is an extensive amount of research that examines the relation between math anxiety and math performance in adolescents and adults, little work has focused on this relation in young children. Recently more attention has been paid to the early development of math anxiety, and new measures have been created for use with this age group. In the present study, we report on the development and validation of a revised version of the Math Anxiety Scale for Young Children (MASYC; Harari et al., 2013). We conducted cognitive interviews with the 12 MASYC items with nine children and then administered the MASYC and five newly-developed items to 296 first-, second- and third-grade children. Results from cognitive interviews show that three of the items from the original scale were being systematically misinterpreted by young children. We present a revised measure (the MASYC-R) consisting of 13 items (eight original, five newly-developed) that shows strong evidence for reliability and validity. Results also showed that a small, but meaningful, proportion of children at this age show signs of high math anxiety. Validity of the MASYC-R was supported through correlations with a number of other factors, including general anxiety, math performance, and math attitudes. In addition, results suggest that a substantial proportion of the variance in math anxiety can be explained from these other variables together. The findings suggest that the MASYC-R is appropriate for use with young children and can help researchers to answer important questions about the nature and development of math anxiety at this age.

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“…However, not all research with young children has shown a relation between mathematical performance and self-reported math anxiety (Dowker, Bennett, & Smith, 2012;Hill et al, 2016;Krinzinger et al, 2009) and there are no longitudinal studies which follow children from the early years. Thus, the research with younger children does not provide strong support for a cognitive deficits model of math anxiety among older children and adults.…”

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Exploring the influence of basic cognitive skills on the relation between math performance and math anxiety

Douglas

LeFevre

2018

J. Numer. Cogn.

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What causes math anxiety? According to a cognitive deficits view, early weaknesses in basic number and spatial skills lead to poor performance and hence negative affect. A strong version of this view suggests that the relation between math anxiety and math performance among adults will be explained by deficits in spatial and basic number skills. In the present research, we tested a model to account for the relations among math anxiety, math performance, and cognitive skills (i.e., working memory, basic number and spatial skills) among adults (N = 90). We replicated the modest correlations observed between math anxiety and these cognitive skills. However, we did not find a direct link between basic number and spatial skills and math anxiety; instead, these relations were mediated by complex math performance. We conclude by rejecting the hypothesis that math anxiety in adults is linked directly to individual differences in spatial and basic numerical skills and suggest instead that the present results are consistent with the alternative view in which even basic numerical tasks, under certain conditions may evoke an anxiety response and mask skill proficiency. Finally, we note that caution should be applied when extrapolating correlational results to make causal claims about whether cognitive skills may be precursors in the development of math anxiety.Keywords: Math anxiety, cognition, basic number skills, spatial skills, cognitive deficits, working memory Math anxiety is a negative response to participation in mathematical activities that has consequences for adults' behavior (Ashcraft & Ridley, 2005;Hembree, 1990;Richardson & Suinn, 1972;Suárez-Pellicioni, Núñez-Peña, & Colomé, 2016). Math-anxious students avoid courses that involve mathematics (Ashcraft & Ridley, 2005;Hembree, 1990;Suárez-Pellicioni et al., 2016), they rate themselves as less skilled in math, have less intention to pursue further mathematics, and have lower math confidence than their peers (e.g., Hembree, 1990;LeFevre, Kulak, & Heymans, 1992). Notably, correlations between math anxiety and math performance are moderate and, thus in some models, reduced math competence is assumed to be a consequence of avoiding math-related courses and activities (e.g., Ashcraft & Ridley, 2005) rather than the cause of the anxiety.Recently, however, Maloney and colleagues have proposed a cognitive deficits model which links math anxiety more directly to individual differences in basic number and spatial competencies (Ferguson, Maloney, Fugelsang, & Risko, 2015;Maloney, Ansari, & Fugelsang, 2011;Maloney, Risko, Ansari, & Fugelsang, 2010;Maloney, Waechter, Risko, & Fugelsang, 2012). According to Maloney (2016), "…a cognitive predisposition to the development of math anxiety that starts with a small deficit in the foundational skills and snowballs into a Journal of Numerical Cognition jnc.psychopen.eu | 2363-8761 larger and emotion-laden difference" (p. 408). Support for a cognitive deficits model of math anxiety in adults is limited to the identification of...

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Maths anxiety in primary and secondary school students: Gender differences, developmental changes and anxiety specificity

Cited by 265 publications

References 72 publications

Are there gender differences in cognitive reflection? Invariance and differences related to mathematics

Are there gender differences in cognitive reflection? Invariance and differences related to mathematics

The Development and Validation of a Revised Version of the Math Anxiety Scale for Young Children

Exploring the influence of basic cognitive skills on the relation between math performance and math anxiety

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