Math Anxiety Mediates the Link Between Number Sense and Math Achievements in High Math Anxiety Young Adults

Frontiers in Psychology
Paula Andrea Maldonado MoscosoRoberto Arrighi

Abstract

In the past few years, many studies have suggested that subjects with high sensory precision in the processing of non-symbolic numerical quantities (approximate number system; ANS) also have higher math abilities. At the same time, there has been interest in another non-cognitive factor affecting mathematical learning: mathematical anxiety (MA). MA is defined as a debilitating emotional reaction to mathematics that interferes with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems. Few studies have been dedicated to uncovering the interplay between ANS and MA and those have provided conflicting evidence. Here we measured ANS precision (numerosity discrimination thresholds) in a cohort of university students with either a high (>75th percentile; n = 49) or low (<25th percentile; n = 39) score on the Abbreviate Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS). We also assessed math proficiency using a standardized test (MPP: Mathematics Prerequisites for Psychometrics), visuo-spatial attention capacity by means of a Multiple Objects Tracking task (MOT) and sensory precision for non-numerical quantities (disk size). Our results confirmed previous studies showing that math abilities and ANS precision correlate in subjects with high math...Continue Reading

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Citations

Dec 16, 2021·The Behavioral and Brain Sciences·Melissa E LibertusAlex M Silver

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