The Chicken or the Egg? The Direction of the Relationship Between Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematics Performance

Carey, Emma; Hill, Francesca; Devine, Amy; Szűcs, Dénes

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01987

Cited by 287 publications

(339 citation statements)

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“…Instead, this model includes a direct path from complex math performance to math anxiety. Note that there is empirical support for a reciprocal relationship between math anxiety and math performance in which poor performance triggers math anxiety and math anxiety triggers poor performance (Carey, Hill, Devine, & Szücs, 2016). Thus it is reasonable to assume that basic number deficits will not fully account for the relation between math performance and math anxiety.…”

Section: Model Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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Section: Model Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…There is a broad consensus that poor math performance is slightly or moderately correlated with math anxiety (MA) (Mark H. Devine, Fawcett, Szűcs, & Dowker, 2012;Jansen et al, 2013;Zakaria, Zain, Ahmad, & Erlina, 2012). Additionally, children with mathematical learning disabilities are often characterized by disproportionally increased levels of MA (Carey, Hill, Devine, & Szücs, 2016;Passolunghi, 2011;Rubinsten & Tannock, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Ashcraft & Moore (2009), the math anxiety causes an affective drop that underestimates the true math performance regardless of the student's true math mastery. To address the pertinent question regarding the causal linkage between math anxiety and math performance three different theories have been developed (for more information see Carey et al, 2016). The Deficit Theory claims that failure or poor performance in mathematics or test results in increased anxiety about that condition in future (Tobias, 1978).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Math anxiety: Brain cortical network changes in anticipation of doing mathematics

Klados

Pandria

Micheloyannis

et al. 2017

International Journal of Psychophysiology

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Following our previous work regarding the involvement of math anxiety (MA) in math-oriented tasks, this study tries to explore the differences in the cerebral networks' topology between self-reported low math-anxious (LMA) and high math-anxious (HMA) individuals, during the anticipation phase prior to a mathematical related experiment. For this reason, multichannel EEG recordings were adopted, while the solution of the inverse problem was applied in a generic head model, in order to obtain the cortical signals. The cortical networks have been computed for each band separately, using the magnitude square coherence metric. The main graph theoretical parameters, showed differences in segregation and integration in almost all EEG bands of the HMAs in comparison to LMAs, indicative of a great influence of the anticipatory anxiety prior to mathematical performance.

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“…This confirms that MA and math skills need to be considered as independent concepts and not just as cognitive and affective sides of the same coin. The relationship between MA and math achievement seems to be reciprocal; poor math skills increase MA, and MA mitigates math performance (Carey, Hill, Devine, & Szűcs, 2016). Therefore, it is not surprising that interventions aimed at reducing MA lead to improvement in math achievement (Hembree, 1990 for meta-analysis).…”

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confidence: 99%

Norms and validation of the online and paper-and-pencil versions of the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS) for Polish adolescents and adults

et al. 2018

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The Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS) is one of the most popular instruments measuring math anxiety (MA). It has been validated across several linguistic and cultural contexts. In this study, we investigated the extent of administration method invariance of the AMAS by comparing results (average scores, reliabilities, factorial structure) obtained online with those from paper-and-pencil. We administered the online version of the AMAS to Polish students. Results indicate that psychometric properties of the AMAS do not differ between online and paper-and-pencil administration. Additionally, average scores of the AMAS did not differ considerably between administration forms, contrary to previous results showing that computerized measurement of MA leads to higher scores. Therefore, our results provide evidence for the usefulness of the AMAS as a reliable and valid MA measurement tool for online research and online screening purposes across cultures and also large similarity between administration forms outside an American-English linguistic and cultural context. Finally, we provide percentile and standard norms for the AMAS for adolescents and adults (in the latter case for both online and paper-and-pencil administration) as well as critical differences for the comparison of both subscales in an individual participant for practical diagnostic purposes.Keywords: math anxiety, Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale, online survey, validation, norms Journal of Numerical Cognition, 2017, Vol. 3(3), 667-693, doi:10.5964/jnc.v3i3.121 Received: 2017-03-02. Accepted: 2017-08-17. Published (VoR): 2018-01-30.*Corresponding author at: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Arbeitsbereich Diagnostik und Kognitive Neuropsychologie, Fachbereich Psychologie, Schleichstraße 4 72076 Tübingen, Germany. E-mail: krzysztof.cipora@gmail.com This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Math Underachievement -Its Causes and ConsequencesPoor numeracy may even be more harmful for an individual than poor literacy (Butterworth, Varma, & Laurillard, 2011). Considerable large-scale economic consequences of math underachievement have also been reported (OECD, 2010). Therefore, the cognitive and emotional causes of impaired numeracy are of major interest both theoretically and practically. Regarding emotional aspects, math anxiety (MA) is probably the most prominent and important variable that negatively correlates with math achievement. It has been extensively investigated since the 1960's (see Dowker, Sarkar, & Looi, 2016 for review). A sizeable negative relationship between MA and math performance is evident in previous PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) studies Journal of Numerical Cognition jnc.psychopen.eu | 2363-8761 across virtually all countries involved in th...

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The Chicken or the Egg? The Direction of the Relationship Between Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematics Performance

Cited by 287 publications

References 60 publications

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

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

Math anxiety: Brain cortical network changes in anticipation of doing mathematics

Norms and validation of the online and paper-and-pencil versions of the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS) for Polish adolescents and adults

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