Mathematical and Statistics Anxiety

196 Pages·2016·18.66 MB·English

MATHEMATICAL AND STATISTICS
ANXIETY: EDUCATIONAL,
SOCIAL, DEVELOPMENTAL AND
COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVES
EDITED BY : Kinga Morsanyi, Irene Cristina Mammarella, Dénes Szu˝ cs,
Carlo Tomasetto, Caterina Primi and Erin Anne Maloney
PUBLISHED IN : Frontiers in Psychology
Frontiers Copyright Statement About Frontiers
© Copyright 2007-2017 Frontiers
Media SA. All rights reserved. Frontiers is more than just an open-access publisher of scholarly articles: it is a pioneering
All content included on this site, approach to the world of academia, radically improving the way scholarly research
such as text, graphics, logos, button
icons, images, video/audio clips, is managed. The grand vision of Frontiers is a world where all people have an equal
downloads, data compilations and
opportunity to seek, share and generate knowledge. Frontiers provides immediate and
software, is the property of or is
licensed to Frontiers Media SA permanent online open access to all its publications, but this alone is not enough to
(“Frontiers”) or its licensees and/or
realize our grand goals.
subcontractors. The copyright in the
text of individual articles is the property
of their respective authors, subject to Frontiers Journal Series
a license granted to Frontiers.
The compilation of articles constituting The Frontiers Journal Series is a multi-tier and interdisciplinary set of open-access, online
this e-book, wherever published,
as well as the compilation of all other journals, promising a paradigm shift from the current review, selection and dissemination
content on this site, is the exclusive processes in academic publishing. All Frontiers journals are driven by researchers for
property of Frontiers. For the
conditions for downloading and researchers; therefore, they constitute a service to the scholarly community. At the same
copying of e-books from Frontiers’
time, the Frontiers Journal Series operates on a revolutionary invention, the tiered publishing
website, please see the Terms for
Website Use. If purchasing Frontiers system, initially addressing specific communities of scholars, and gradually climbing up to
e-books from other websites
broader public understanding, thus serving the interests of the lay society, too.
or sources, the conditions of the
website concerned apply.
Images and graphics not forming part Dedication to Quality
of user-contributed materials may
not be downloaded or copied Each Frontiers article is a landmark of the highest quality, thanks to genuinely collaborative
without permission.
interactions between authors and review editors, who include some of the world’s best
Individual articles may be downloaded
and reproduced in accordance academicians. Research must be certified by peers before entering a stream of knowledge
with the principles of the CC-BY
that may eventually reach the public - and shape society; therefore, Frontiers only applies
licence subject to any copyright or
other notices. They may not be the most rigorous and unbiased reviews.
re-sold as an e-book.
Frontiers revolutionizes research publishing by freely delivering the most outstanding
As author or other contributor you
grant a CC-BY licence to others to research, evaluated with no bias from both the academic and social point of view.
reproduce your articles, including any
graphics and third-party materials By applying the most advanced information technologies, Frontiers is catapulting scholarly
supplied by you, in accordance with publishing into a new generation.
the Conditions for Website Use and
subject to any copyright notices which
you include in connection with your What are Frontiers Research Topics?
articles and materials.
All copyright, and all rights therein, Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series:
are protected by national and
they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their
international copyright laws.
unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers
The above represents a summary
only. For the full conditions see the Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical
Conditions for Authors and the
Conditions for Website Use. advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers
ISSN 1664-8714 Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial
ISBN 978-2-88945-076-3
DOI 10.3389/978-2-88945-076-3 Office: [email protected]
Frontiers in Psychology 1 January 2017 | Mathematical and Statistics Anxiety
MATHEMATICAL AND STATISTICS
ANXIETY: EDUCATIONAL, SOCIAL,
DEVELOPMENTAL AND COGNITIVE
PERSPECTIVES
Topic Editors:
Kinga Morsanyi, Queen’s University Belfast, UK
Irene Cristina Mammarella, University of Padova, Italy
Dénes Szu˝ cs, University of Cambridge, UK
Carlo Tomasetto, University of Bologna, Italy
Caterina Primi, University of Florence, Italy
Erin Anne Maloney, University of Chicago, USA
Mathematical anxiety is a feeling of tension,
apprehension or fear which arises when a person
is faced with mathematical content. The nega-
tive consequences of mathematical anxiety are
well-documented. Students with high levels of
mathematical anxiety might underperform in
important test situations, they tend to hold neg-
ative attitudes towards mathematics, and they are
likely to opt out of elective mathematics courses,
which also affects their career opportunities.
Although at the university level many students
do not continue to study mathematics, social sci-
ence students are confronted with the fact that
their disciplines involve learning about statistics
- another potential source of anxiety for students
who are uncomfortable with dealing with numer-
ical content.
Research on mathematical anxiety is a truly inter-
disciplinary field with contributions from edu-
Cover image by Dr Bianca van Bers.
cational, developmental, cognitive, social and
neuroscience researchers. The current collection of papers demonstrates the diversity of the
field, offering both new empirical contributions and reviews of existing studies. The contributors
also outline future directions for this line of research.
Citation: Morsanyi, K., Mammarella, I. C., Szu˝cs, D., Tomasetto, C., Primi, C., Maloney, E. A., eds.
(2017). Mathematical and Statistics Anxiety: Educational, Social, Developmental and Cognitive
Perspectives. Lausanne: Frontiers Media. doi: 10.3389/978-2-88945-076-3
Frontiers in Psychology 2 January 2017 | Mathematical and Statistics Anxiety
Table of Contents
Introduction
05 Editorial: Mathematical and Statistics Anxiety: Educational, Social,
Developmental and Cognitive Perspectives
Kinga Morsanyi, Irene C. Mammarella, Dénes Szücs, Carlo Tomasetto, Caterina Primi
and Erin A. Maloney
09 Mathematics Anxiety: What Have We Learned in 60 Years?
Ann Dowker, Amar Sarkar and Chung Yen Looi
Mathematical anxiety and basic processing of numbers
25 Neural correlates of math anxiety – an overview and implications
Christina Artemenko, Gabriella Daroczy and Hans-Christoph Nuerk
33 The influence of math anxiety on symbolic and non-symbolic magnitude
processing
Julia F. Dietrich, Stefan Huber, Korbinian Moeller and Elise Klein
Mathematical anxiety, attentional resources, working memory and inhibition
43 Attentional bias in math anxiety
Orly Rubinsten, Hili Eidlin, Hadas Wohl and Orly Akibli
52 Attentional bias in high math-anxious individuals: evidence from an emotional
Stroop task
Macarena Suárez-Pellicioni, Maria Isabel Núñez-Peña and Àngels Colomé
62 Processing of multi-digit additions in high math-anxious individuals:
psychophysiological evidence
María Isabel Núñez-Peña and Macarena Suárez-Pellicioni
73 Mathematics Anxiety, Working Memory, and Mathematics Performance in
Secondary-School Children
Maria C. Passolunghi, Sara Caviola, Ruggero De Agostini, Chiara Perin
and Irene C. Mammarella
The relationship between mathematical/statistics anxiety and math/
statistics performance
81 The Chicken or the Egg? The Direction of the Relationship Between
Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematics Performance
Emma Carey, Francesca Hill, Amy Devine and Dénes Szücs
87 Statistics anxiety and performance: blessings in disguise
Daniel Macher, Ilona Papousek, Kai Ruggeri and Manuela Paechter
Frontiers in Psychology 3 January 2017 | Mathematical and Statistics Anxiety
Identification with math, math confidence and math anxiety
91 Metacognition and confidence: comparing math to other academic subjects
Shanna Erickson and Evan Heit
101 The role of self-math overlap in understanding math anxiety and the relation
between math anxiety and performance
Elizabeth A. Necka, H. Moriah Sokolowski and Ian M. Lyons
113 Affective and Motivational Factors Mediate the Relation between Math Skills
and Use of Math in Everyday Life
Brenda R. J. Jansen, Eva A. Schmitz and Han L. J. van der Maas
Social influences, gender stereotypes and math anxiety
124 Different Sources of Threat on Math Performance for Girls and Boys: The Role of
Stereotypic and Idiosyncratic Knowledge
Isabelle Régner, Leila Selimbegovic´ , Pascal Pansu, Jean-Marc Monteil
and Pascal Huguet
129 Parent-child math anxiety and math-gender stereotypes predict adolescents’
math education outcomes
Bettina J. Casad, Patricia Hale and Faye L. Wachs
150 Insecure attachment is associated with math anxiety in middle childhood
Guy Bosmans and Bert De Smedt
157 Gender stereotype endorsement differentially predicts girls’ and boys’ trait-
state discrepancy in math anxiety
Madeleine Bieg, Thomas Goetz, Ilka Wolter and Nathan C. Hall
Measurement of math anxiety and cross-cultural validity of measurement
scales
165 Math Anxiety Assessment with the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale:
Applicability and Usefulness: Insights from the Polish Adaptation
Krzysztof Cipora, Monika Szczygieł, Klaus Willmes and Hans-Christoph Nuerk
181 Components of Mathematics Anxiety: Factor Modeling of the MARS30-Brief
Belinda Pletzer, Guilherme Wood, Thomas Scherndl, Hubert H. Kerschbaum
and Hans-Christoph Nuerk
Frontiers in Psychology 4 January 2017 | Mathematical and Statistics Anxiety
EDITORIAL
published:21July2016
doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01083
Editorial: Mathematical and Statistics
Anxiety: Educational, Social,
Developmental and Cognitive
Perspectives
KingaMorsanyi1*,IreneC.Mammarella2,DénesSzücs3,CarloTomasetto4,
CaterinaPrimi5andErinA.Maloney6
1SchoolofPsychology,Queen’sUniversityBelfast,Belfast,UK,2DepartmentofDevelopmentalPsychology,Universityof
Padova,Padova,Italy,3DepartmentofExperimentalPsychology,UniversityofCambridge,Cambridge,UK,4Departmentof
Psychology,UniversityofBologna,Bologna,Italy,5Neurofarba–SectionofPsychology,UniversityofFlorence,Florence,Italy,
6DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofChicago,Chicago,IL,USA
Keywords: anxiety specificity, developmental change, emotional factors, gender differences, mathematical
anxiety,mathematicsperformance,measurement
TheEditorialontheResearchTopic
Mathematical and Statistics Anxiety: Educational, Social, Developmental and Cognitive
Perspectives
Mathematical anxiety (MA) is a feeling of apprehension and fear related to mathematics (e.g.,
Ashcraft,2002).HighlevelsofMAhaveseriousimplicationsforaperson’slifeprospects,astheycan
leadtoanavoidanceofelectivemathscourses,which,inturn,affectspeople’scareeropportunities
(e.g.,Hembree,1990).ThesocietalimportanceofMAisalsounderlinedbythefactthat,according
tothelatestreportoftheOrganizationforEconomicCo-operationandDevelopment,onaverage
Editedandreviewedby:
30.6%ofadolescentsgetverynervouswhentheyhavetodomathsproblems(OECD,2015).
BernhardHommel,
Research in this area has shown an exponential growth in recent years, with the number of
LeidenUniversity,Netherlands
papersdealingwithMAincreasingfrom60intheyear2000to330paperspublishedin2015(based
*Correspondence:
on Scopus statistics accessed on 20/06/2016). Over half of these papers have reported research
KingaMorsanyi
carriedoutinNorthAmerica,mostlyintheUnitedStates,whereaslessthan20%ofthisworkwas
[email protected]
conductedinEurope.Themajorityofthesepapersappearedineducationaljournals,withasmaller
proportion published in cognitive or developmental journals, and even fewer in neuroscience
Specialtysection:
Thisarticlewassubmittedto journalsorinspecialistjournalsonemotionorstress.
Cognition, Against this backdrop, it is easier to see the contribution of this collection of papers to the
asectionofthejournal literature. Most of the contributors are from European countries, and many papers deal with
FrontiersinPsychology relativelyless-investigatedissues,includingtherelationshipbetweenMAandsocialinfluences,the
Received:23June2016 measurementofMA,thephysiologicalcorrelatesofMA,andMAoutsidetheclassroom.TheTopic
Accepted:01July2016 alsoincludesanumberofreviewpapersthat,besidessummarizingexistingfindings,highlightsome
Published:21July2016 important gaps in our current knowledge and make recommendations for future investigations.
Citation: Finally,somepaperspresentmethodologicalinnovations.
MorsanyiK,MammarellaIC,SzücsD,
TomasettoC,PrimiCandMaloneyEA MA RESEARCH: THE FIRST 60 YEARS AND BEYOND
(2016)Editorial:Mathematicaland
StatisticsAnxiety:Educational,Social,
Dowker et al. summarize many of the most important MA-related findings since the first
DevelopmentalandCognitive
Perspectives.Front.Psychol.7:1083. publication on the topic almost 60 years ago. Dowkeret al. discuss the separabilityof MA from
doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01083 otherrelatedconstructs(e.g.,general-andtest-anxiety,andattitudestomathematics),aswellas
FrontiersinPsychology|www.frontiersin.org July2016|Volume7|Article1083 |5
Morsanyietal. Editorial:MathematicalandStatisticsAnxiety
some issues regarding the measurement of MA. Dowker et al. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MA AND
alsoexploresomeothercorrelatesofMA(e.g.,physiologicaland MATHS PERFORMANCE
socio-culturalprocesses),andtentativeapproachestoreduceor
preventMA.Finally,thepaperalsopointstodirectionsforfuture Whereas it is well-established that there is a moderate negative
research, some of which (e.g., the relationship between gender relationshipbetweenMAandmathsperformance(seeHembree,
stereotypesandMA,andthe“chickenoregg”questionofthelink 1990 and Ma, 1999 for meta-analyses), the evidence regarding
betweenMAandmathematicsperformance)wereinthefocusof the direction of a possible causal link is mixed. In the previous
othercontributions. sectionswedescribedevidenceforthepotentialofMAtodisrupt
mathematical performance, and even very basic maths-related
processing.BesidesevidenceforthisDebilitatingAnxietyModel,
MA AND BASIC PROCESSING OF
Careyetal.alsoreviewthefindingssupportingtheDeficitTheory
NUMBERS (i.e.,thatpoormathsperformancemightelicitMA;cf.,Tobias,
1986). Carey et al. propose that instead of trying to decide
AnotherreviewpaperbyArtemenkoetal.providesanoverview betweentheseproposals,aReciprocalTheory(wherethecausal
of the neural correlates of MA. Artemenko et al. argue that linkbetweenMAandmathsperformanceisbidirectional)seems
whereas behavioral studies mostly observe an influence of most plausible. Nevertheless, they also point to the scarcity of
MA on difficult maths tasks, neurophysiological studies show longitudinalresearchthatcouldprovidefurtherevidenceforthe
that processing efficiency is also affected in basic number DeficitTheory.
processing. This conclusion is in line with Dietrich et al. The only paper in the Topic dealing with Statistics Anxiety
who replicated previous findings by Maloney et al. (2011) and (SA; Macher et al.) also discusses the link between anxiety
Núñez-Peña and Suárez-Pellicioni (2014) by showing a larger and performance. Macher et al. propose that although during
symbolic distance effect in maths anxious individuals. At the examinations SA might disrupt performance, SA could be
same time, Dietrich et al. question earlier conclusions that related to greater motivation to avoid failure, and, thus,
mathsanxiousindividualshaveadeficientapproximatenumber could be positively linked to the effort invested into exam
system. preparation. In other words, SA can both support and hinder
performance, although these effects might arise at different
points in time. The question of expectations about maths
MA, ATTENTIONAL RESOURCES,
performancepriortotestingisfurtheraddressedbyEricksonand
WORKING MEMORY, AND INHIBITION Heit.
Artemenko et al. also discuss the neurological evidence
IDENTIFICATION WITH MATHS, MATHS
supporting Eysenck et al.’s (2007) attentional control theory.
According to this theory, attentional, and processing resources CONFIDENCE, AND MA
are impaired by worry, and this can only be compensated by
increased cognitive effort. Four contributions within the Topic Erickson and Heit investigate the link between self-confidence
addressrelatedissues.BothRubinstenetal.andSuárez-Pellicioni and actual performance in maths, biology and literature in
etal.presentbehavioralevidenceforanattentionalbiasinMA university undergraduates. Erikson and Heit compare students’
toward threatening (i.e., maths-related) stimuli. These authors performance estimates before and after a test in each subject.
argue that this bias could lead to the exacerbation of MA, as Students generally overestimated their performance when they
it could result in an overestimation of the level of threat in madepredictionsbeforecompletingthetests,butthistendency
maths-related situations. In another contribution, Núñez-Peña wasstrongestinthecaseofmaths.Thisoverconfidenceinmaths
and Suárez-Pellicioni also present evidence from event-related is interesting, given that Study 2 demonstrated high levels of
potentials for attentional and processing differences between MA in participants. Erikson and Heit point out that both MA
high- and low-MA individuals, while they perform multi-digit and overconfidence could lead to avoidance behaviors, such as
additions. spendinglesstimeonexampreparationormissingclasses.
Passolunghi et al. compare the academic achievement and Necka et al. introduce a single-item measure of self-maths
cognitive profiles of secondary school students with high and overlap,modeledonAronetal.’s(1992)theInclusionofOther
lowMA.Passolunghietal.showthat,besideslowerachievement inSelfScale.Neckaetal.demonstratethatself-mathsoverlapis
in mathematics, students with high MA perform less well in negativelyrelatedtoMA.Moreover,MAismorestronglyrelated
verbal short-term memory and working memory tasks, and tomathsperformanceinindividualswithlowself-mathsoverlap
are less able to inhibit irrelevant information. Additionally, (i.e., in individuals who perceive maths as less self-relevant).
measures of inhibitory control and fact retrieval were the best Notably, this difference appears to be only partially explained
predictors for identifying students with high or low MA. A by the tendency of individuals with high self-maths overlap to
notablemethodologicalfeatureofthestudiesbyNúñez-Peñaand overestimatetheirmathsability.
Suárez-Pellicioni,Passolunghietal.,andSuárez-Pellicionietal.is Jansen et al. present a new scale to measure the tendency
thattheyrecruitedparticipantswithparticularlyhigh/lowlevels to use maths in everyday life, and they also investigate its
ofMA,andcomparedtheseextremegroups. relationship with maths skills, perceived maths competence
FrontiersinPsychology|www.frontiersin.org July2016|Volume7|Article1083 |6
Morsanyietal. Editorial:MathematicalandStatisticsAnxiety
and MA in a large adult sample. Jansen et al. report gender the factorial structure of the scale. They also establish the
differencesinalloftheseconstructs,showingamaleadvantage. measurement invariance of the scale across genders, and show
Inbothgenders,perceivedmathscompetencemediatedthelink that gender differences are specific to Evaluation Anxiety,
between maths skills and everyday use of maths. In women LearningMathematicsAnxiety,andPerformanceAnxiety.
only, MA was an additional mediator of the link between
maths skills and everyday use of maths. This study adds to the CONCLUSIONS AND LOOKING AHEAD TO
limitedliteratureongenderdifferencesinthelinkbetweenMA THE NEXT 60 YEARS
and maths performance (e.g., Devine et al., 2012; Hill et al.,
2016). ExtendingcontributionsfromNorthAmericanresearchers,the
present collection of papers brings European research into MA
SOCIAL INFLUENCES, GENDER
totheforefront,whileexploringsomenovelandless-researched
STEREOTYPES, AND MA issues, such as MA and basic numerical processing; the social
determinants of MA; and the links between MA, self-concept,
The relationship between the development of MA and social andself-confidence.
influences,suchasparents’endorsementofmaths-relatedgender This Topic also offers some methodological innovations,
stereotypes(e.g.,Tomasettoetal.,2015)isarelativelyneglected including comparisons between extreme groups of high- and
issue within the MA literature. Two contributions to the Topic low-MA participants, and new measures of self-maths overlap,
have investigated parental influences. Casad et al. demonstrate as well as using maths in everyday life. Investigating MA in
that parents’ MA interacts with their child’s MA to predict the everyday situations could be an important direction for future
child’s self-efficacy, classroom maths performance, and maths- research,asrecentstudiesindicatethattheeffectofMAextends
relatedattitudes. beyondeducationalcontexts.Specifically,MAhasbeenfoundto
Bosman and De Smedt further argue that MA might reflect be linked to decision-making skills (Morsanyi et al., 2014; Silk
amaladaptiveaffect-regulationmechanismthatischaracteristic andParrott,2014).
of insecure attachment relationships. Their hypothesis was Nevertheless, there are also some topics that remained
supported by the finding that individual differences in MA partiallyorwhollyunaddressedbythesecontributions.Although
were related to insecure attachment, independent of age, the origins of MA are not well-understood, research into
sex, and IQ. Additionally, mathematics achievement was MA with young children remains scarce (although see e.g.,
associatedwithinsecureattachmentandthiseffectwasmediated Berkowitzetal.,2015;Maloneyetal.,2015;Ramirezetal.,2016).
byMA. Longitudinalstudieswithyoungchildren(e.g.,Cargneluttietal.,
Bieg et al. extend previous work by Goetz et al. (2013) that 2016)wouldbeparticularlyimportantforabetterunderstanding
showedhighertraitMAinfemales,butnogenderdifferencein oftheoriginsofMA.
state MA. Bieg et al. demonstrate that the discrepancy between Furtherinvestigationsintothemeasurement of MAarealso
state and trait MA (i.e., the tendency to overestimate MA) was necessary. Researchers use various instruments (ranging from
strongerinfemaleswhoendorsedthegenderstereotypeofmaths single-item scales to instruments that consist of 30 or more
beingamaledomain. items).Thepsychometricpropertiesofthesescalesmightdiffer
considerably,andthiscanresultininconsistenciesbetweenthe
MEASUREMENT OF MA AND findings of studies. It is also common that studies with young
CROSS-CULTURAL VALIDITY OF participantsusescalesdevelopedforadults,orinstrumentsthat
were developed to measure MA in educational contexts are
MEASUREMENT SCALES
administeredtoadultswhoarenolongerineducation.Rolison
etal.(2016)presentedascaletomeasureMAoutsideacademic
As most MA scales have been developed in North America,
contexts. Investigations into MA in everyday life could make
it is important to establish the cross-cultural validity of these
it possible to extend this work to new populations (e.g., older
instruments.Ciporaetal.investigatethepsychometricproperties
adults) and new contexts, such as decisions about investments,
ofthePolishadaptationoftheAbbreviatedMathAnxietyScale
consumerbehaviororlifestylechoices.
(AMAS;Hopkoetal.,2003),awidelyused9-itemscale.Cipora
etal.demonstratehighreliability,aswellasverygoodconstruct,
convergentanddiscriminantvalidity.Thisaddstopreviouswork AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
that demonstrated the excellent psychometric properties of the
Iranian (Vahedi and Farrokhi, 2011) and Italian (Primi et al., Allauthorslistedhavemadesubstantial,direct,andintellectual
2014)adaptationsoftheAMAS. contributiontothework,andapproveditforpublication.
Pletzer et al. present the psychometric analysis of a German
adaptationoftheMARS30-brief(SuinnandWinston,2003),and FUNDING
proposethatafive-factormodel(includingEvaluationAnxiety,
Learning Mathematics Anxiety, Everyday Numerical Anxiety, The writing of this paper was supported by a Royal Society
Performance Anxiety, and Social Responsibility Anxiety) is InternationalExchangesgranttoKMandCT(referencenumber:
the best fitting and most parsimonious representation of IE150463).
FrontiersinPsychology|www.frontiersin.org July2016|Volume7|Article1083 |7
Morsanyietal. Editorial:MathematicalandStatisticsAnxiety
REFERENCES
Núñez-Peña,M.I.,andSuárez-Pellicioni,M.(2014).Lesspreciserepresentation
of numerical magnitude in high math-anxious individuals: an ERP
Aron,A.,Aron,E.N.,andSmollan,D.(1992).Inclusionofotherintheselfscale study of the size and distance effects. Biol. Psychol. 103, 176–183. doi:
andthestructureofinterpersonalcloseness.J.Pers.Soc.Psychol.63,596–612. 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.09.004
doi:10.1037/0022-3514.63.4.596 OECD(2015).TheABCofGenderEqualityinEducation:Aptitude,Behaviour,
Ashcraft, M. H. (2002). Math anxiety: personal, educational, and cognitive Confidence.Pisa:OECDPublishing.doi:10.1787/9789264229945-en
consequences. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 11, 181–185. doi: 10.1111/1467- Primi, C., Busdraghi, C., Tomasetto, C., Morsanyi, C., and Chiesi, F. (2014).
8721.00196 Measuring math anxiety in Italian college and high school students:
Berkowitz,T.,Schaeffer,M.W.,Maloney,E.A.,Peterson,L.,Gregor,C.,Levine,S. validity, reliability and gender invariance of the Abbreviated Math Anxiety
C.,etal.(2015).Mathathomeaddsuptoachievementinschool.Science350, Scale (AMAS). Learn. Individ. Differ. 34, 51–56. doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2014.
196–198.doi:10.1126/science.aac7427 05.012
Cargnelutti, E., Tomasetto, C., and Passolunghi, M. C. (2016).How is anxiety Ramirez,G.,Chang,H.,Maloney,E.A.,Levine,S.C.,andBeilock,S.L.(2016).
relatedtomathperformanceinyoungstudents?AlongitudinalstudyofGrade On the relationship between math anxiety and math achievement in early
2toGrade3children.Cogn.Emot.doi:10.1080/02699931.2016.1147421.[Epub elementaryschool:theroleofproblemsolvingstrategies.J.Exp.ChildPsychol.
aheadofprint]. 141,83–100.doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2015.07.014
Devine, A., Fawcett, K., Szûcs, D., and Dowker, A. (2012). Gender differences Rolison,J.J.,Morsanyi,K.,andO’Connor,P.(2016).CanIcountongettingbetter?
inmathematicsanxietyandtherelationtomathematicsperformancewhile Associationbetweenmathanxietyandpoorerunderstandingofmedicalrisk
controllingfortestanxiety.Behav.BrainFunct.8:33.doi:10.1186/1744-9081- reductions.Med.Decis.Makingdoi:10.1177/0272989X15602000.[Epubahead
8-33 ofprint].
Eysenck,M.W.,Derakshan,N.,Santos,R.,andCalvo,M.G.(2007).Anxietyand Silk,K.J.,andParrott,R.L.(2014).Mathanxietyandexposuretostatisticsin
cognitiveperformance:attentionalcontroltheory.Emotion7,336–353.doi: messages about genetically modified foods: effects of numeracy, math self-
10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.336 efficacy, and form of presentation. J. Health Commun. 19, 838–852. doi:
Goetz,T.,Bieg,M.,Lüdtke,O.,Pekrun,R.,andHall,N.C.(2013).Dogirlsreally 10.1080/10810730.2013.837549
experience more anxiety in mathematics? Psychol. Sci. 24, 2079–2087. doi: Suinn, R. M., and Winston, E. H. (2003). The Mathematics Anxiety Rating
10.1177/0956797613486989 Scale, a brief version: psychometric data. Psychol. Rep. 92, 167–173. doi:
Hembree,R.(1990).Thenature,effects,andreliefofmathematicsanxiety.J.Res. 10.2466/pr0.2003.92.1.167
Math.Educ.21,33–46.doi:10.2307/749455 Tobias,S.(1986).“Anxietyandcognitiveprocessingofinstruction,”inSelf-Related
Hill,F.,Mammarella,I.C.,Devine,A.,Caviola,S.,Passolunghi,M.C.,andSzûcs, CognitionsinAnxietyandMotivation,edR.Schwarzer(Hillsdale,NJ:Lawrence
D.(2016).Mathsanxietyinprimaryandsecondaryschoolstudents:gender ErlbaumAssociates),35–54.
differences, developmental changes and anxiety specificity. Learn. Individ. Tomasetto, C., Mirisola, A., Galdi, S., and Cadinu, M. (2015). Parents’ math–
Differ.48,45–53.doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2016.02.006 genderstereotypes,children’sself-perceptionofability,andchildren’sappraisal
Hopko,D.R.,Mahadevan,R.,Bare,R.L.,andHunt,M.K.(2003).TheAbbreviated ofparents’evaluationsin6-year-olds.Contemp.Educ.Psychol.42,186–198.doi:
MathAnxietyScale(AMAS)construction,validity,andreliability.Assessment 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2015.06.007
10,178–182.doi:10.1177/1073191103010002008 Vahedi,S.,andFarrokhi,F.(2011).Aconfirmatoryfactoranalysisofthestructure
Ma, X. (1999). A meta-analysis of the relationship between anxiety toward ofabbreviatedmathanxietyscale.Iran.J.Psychiatry6,47–53.Availableonline
mathematicsandachievementinmathematics.J.Res.Math.Educ.30,520–540. at:http://ijps.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijps/article/view/283
doi:10.2307/749772
Maloney,E.A.,Ansari,D.,andFugelsang,J.A.(2011).Theeffectofmathematics Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors declare that the research was
anxietyontheprocessingofnumericalmagnitude.Q.J.Exp.Psychol.64,10–16. conductedintheabsenceofanycommercialorfinancialrelationshipsthatcould
doi:10.1080/17470218.2010.533278 beconstruedasapotentialconflictofinterest.
Maloney, E. A., Ramirez, G., Gunderson, E. A., Levine, S. C., and Beilock,
S. L. (2015). Intergenerational effects of parents’ math anxiety on Copyright©2016Morsanyi,Mammarella,Szücs,Tomasetto,PrimiandMaloney.
children’s math achievement and anxiety. Psychol. Sci. 26, 1480–1488. Thisisanopen-accessarticledistributedunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommons
doi:10.1177/0956797615592630 AttributionLicense(CCBY).Theuse,distributionorreproductioninotherforums
Morsanyi, K., Busdraghi, C., and Primi, C. (2014). Mathematical anxiety is ispermitted,providedtheoriginalauthor(s)orlicensorarecreditedandthatthe
linkedtoreducedcognitivereflection:apotentialroadfromdiscomfortinthe originalpublicationinthisjournaliscited,inaccordancewithacceptedacademic
mathematicsclassroomtosusceptibilitytobiases.Behav.BrainFunct.10:31. practice.Nouse,distributionorreproductionispermittedwhichdoesnotcomply
doi:10.1186/1744-9081-10-31 withtheseterms.
FrontiersinPsychology|www.frontiersin.org July2016|Volume7|Article1083 |8
REVIEW
published:25April2016
doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00508
Mathematics Anxiety: What Have We
Learned in 60 Years?
AnnDowker*,AmarSarkarandChungYenLooi
DepartmentofExperimentalPsychology,UniversityofOxford,Oxford,UK
Theconstructofmathematicsanxietyhasbeenanimportanttopicofstudyatleastsince
the concept of “number anxiety” was introduced by Dreger and Aiken (1957), and has
received increasing attention in recent years. This paper focuses on what research has
revealed about mathematics anxiety in the last 60 years, and what still remains to be
learned.Wediscuss whatmathematicsanxietyis; how distinctitisfrom otherformsof
anxiety; and how it relates to attitudes to mathematics. We discuss the relationships
between mathematics anxiety and mathematics performance. We describe ways in
which mathematics anxiety is measured, both by questionnaires, and by physiological
measures.Wediscusssomepossiblefactorsinmathematicsanxiety,includinggenetics,
gender,age,andculture.Finally,wedescribesomeresearchontreatment.Weconclude
withabriefdiscussionofwhatstillneedstobelearned.
Keywords:mathematicsanxiety,workingmemory,gender,stereotypethreat,cognitivereappraisal,transcranial
directcurrentstimulation(tDCS)
Editedby:
Lowachievementandlowparticipationinmathematicsaremattersofconcerninmanycountries;
CarloTomasetto,
for example, recent concerns in the UK led to the establishment of the National Numeracy
UniversityofBologna,Italy
organizationin2012.Thistopichasreceivedincreasingfocusinrecentyears,theever-increasing
Reviewedby:
importance of quantitative reasoning in a variety of educational and occupational situations,
BelindaPletzer,
rangingfromschoolexaminationstomanagementofpersonalfinances.
UniversityofSalzburg,Austria
Some aspects of mathematics appear to be cognitively difficult for many people to
BrendaR.J.Jansen,
UniversityofAmsterdam,Netherlands acquire; and some people have moderate or severe specific mathematical learning disabilities.
But not all mathematical disabilities result from cognitive difficulties. A substantial number of
*Correspondence:
AnnDowker children and adults have mathematics anxiety, which may severely disrupt their mathematical
[email protected] learningandperformance,bothbycausingavoidanceofmathematicalactivitiesandbyoverloading
and disrupting working memory during mathematical tasks. On the whole, studies suggest that
Specialtysection: attitudestomathematicstendtodeterioratewithageduringchildhoodandadolescence(Wigfield
Thisarticlewassubmittedto and Meece, 1988; Ma and Kishor, 1997), which has negative implications for mathematical
Cognition, development, mathematics education and adult engagement in mathematics-related activities.
asectionofthejournal
Also, while there are nowadays few gender differences in actual mathematical performance in
FrontiersinPsychology
countriesthatprovideequaleducationalopportunityforboysandgirls,femalesatallagesstilltend
Received:06August2015 toratethemselveslowerinmathematicsandtoexperiencegreateranxietyaboutmathematicsthan
Accepted:24March2016
domales.Itisimportanttounderstandchildren’sandadults’attitudesandemotionswithregardto
Published:25April2016
mathematicsifwearetoremoveimportantbarrierstolearningandprogressinthissubject.
Citation: Manystudiesovertheyearshaveindicatedthatmanypeoplehaveextremelynegativeattitudes
DowkerA,SarkarAandLooiCY
tomathematics,sometimesamountingtosevereanxiety(Hembree,1990;Ashcraft,2002;Maloney
(2016)MathematicsAnxiety:What
and Beilock, 2012). Mathematics anxiety has been defined as “a feeling of tension and anxiety
HaveWeLearnedin60Years?
Front.Psychol.7:508. that interferes with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems in
doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00508 ...ordinarylifeandacademicsituations”(RichardsonandSuinn,1972).
FrontiersinPsychology|www.frontiersin.org April2016|Volume7|Article508 |9