The math anxiety-math performance link and its relation to individual and environmental factors: a review of current behavioral and psychophysiological research

Chang, Hyesang; Beilock, Sian L.

doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.04.011

Cited by 171 publications

(163 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The findings are congruent with previous evidence showing that emotions and academic achievement are correlated (Chang & Beilock, ; Goetz & Hall, ; Pekrun & Linnenbrink‐Garcia, ; Zeidner, ). However, they go beyond correlational evidence by disentangling the directional effects underlying the emotion–achievement link.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…However, notwithstanding individual differences regarding effects, we expect that the average overall influence of positive deactivating emotions on achievement is positive and that the average overall influence of negative activating emotions is negative. For negative activating emotions such as anxiety, this hypothesis is consistent with the available evidence, which indicates that the correlations between these emotions and academic achievement are typically negative (Chang & Beilock, ; Hembree, ; Zeidner, , ).…”

Section: A Reciprocal Effects Model Of Emotion and Achievementsupporting

confidence: 82%

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Achievement Emotions and Academic Performance: Longitudinal Models of Reciprocal Effects

et al. 2017

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A reciprocal effects model linking emotion and achievement over time is proposed. The model was tested using five annual waves of the Project for the Analysis of Learning and Achievement in Mathematics (PALMA) longitudinal study, which investigated adolescents' development in mathematics (Grades 5-9; N = 3,425 German students; mean starting age = 11.7 years; representative sample). Structural equation modeling showed that positive emotions (enjoyment, pride) positively predicted subsequent achievement (math end-of-the-year grades and test scores), and that achievement positively predicted these emotions, controlling for students' gender, intelligence, and family socioeconomic status. Negative emotions (anger, anxiety, shame, boredom, hopelessness) negatively predicted achievement, and achievement negatively predicted these emotions. The findings were robust across waves, achievement indicators, and school tracks, highlighting the importance of emotions for students' achievement and of achievement for the development of emotions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: A Reciprocal Effects Model Of Emotion and Achievementsupporting

confidence: 82%

Achievement Emotions and Academic Performance: Longitudinal Models of Reciprocal Effects

et al. 2017

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“…Instead, some research has found that anxiety can help or hinder test performance and that individual differences in anxiety are mediated by individual differences in working memory (e.g., see Owens, Stevenson, Hadwin, & Norgate, ). Likewise, while “math anxiety” is a common explanation for poor performance in math, researchers have found that anxiety about math is negatively correlated with math proficiency (Chang & Beilock, ) and that cognitive factors, i.e., low math aptitude and low working memory capacity, are associated with anxiety for math (Ashcraft & Krause, ). While there are well‐established relationships between L1 and L2 reading (e.g., see Koda & Zehler, ), the claim of a unique anxiety for L2 reading is also contrary to research in L1 reading, where there are no viable theories claiming that anxiety is relevant for learning to read.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

L2 anxiety and the foreign language reading anxiety scale: Listening to the evidence

Sparks¹,

Patton

Luebbers

2018

Foreign Language Annals

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Second language (L2) educators have proposed a unique anxiety for general L2 learning and an anxiety specific to L2 reading. Since the early 1990s, the L2 anxiety concept has been challenged on theoretical and empirical grounds. In this investigation, U.S. high school L2 learners were administered the Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS) and measures of first language (L1) skills, L1 phonological memory and working memory, L1 print exposure, L1 reading attitudes, L1 metacognitive ability, L2 aptitude, and L2 achievement, then were followed through 2 to 3 years of Spanish. Results showed that the FLRAS explained significant unique variance in most L1 skills and L2 aptitude. Hierarchical regressions showed that the FLRAS explained growth in L2 achievement from first‐ to second‐ to third‐year Spanish. Findings suggest that the FLRAS is likely to measure individual differences in or self‐perceptions of students’ language learning skills rather than a specific anxiety for L2 learning. Implications for the teaching of L2s to U.S. students are discussed.

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“…Therefore, our data challenge the idea that HMA individuals might have less precise numerical representations and support the anxietycomplexity effect posited by Ashcraft and colleagues. Math anxiety, defined as 'feelings of tension and anxiety that interfere with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems in a wide variety of ordinary life and academic situations' (Richardson & Suinn, 1972, p. 551), is a subject of increasing interest, as shown by the large number of reviews on this topic published in recent years (e.g. Chang & Beilock, 2016;Dowker, Sarkar, & Looi, 2016;Foley et al, 2017;Su arez-Pellicioni, N uñez-Peña, & Colom e, 2016). This interest is fuelled by the fact that math anxiety is a global phenomenon with a high prevalence.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Number line estimation in highly math‐anxious individuals

Peña

Colomé

Aguilar-Lleyda

2018

British J of Psychology

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In this study, we aimed to investigate the difficulties highly math-anxious individuals (HMA) may face when having to estimate a number's position in a number line task. Twenty-four HMA and 24 low math-anxiety (LMA) individuals were presented with four lines with endpoints 0-100, 0-1,000, 0-100,000, and 267-367 on a computer monitor on which they had to mark the correct position of target numbers using the mouse. Although no differences were found between groups in the frequency of their best-fit model, which was linear for all lines, the analysis of slopes and intercepts for the linear model showed that the two groups differed in performance on the less familiar lines (267-367 and 0-100,000). Lower values for the slope and higher values for the intercept were found in the HMA group, suggesting that they tended to overestimate small numbers and underestimate large numbers on these non-familiar lines. Percentage absolute error analyses confirmed that HMA individuals were less accurate than their LMA counterparts on these lines, although no group differences were found in response time. These results indicate that math anxiety is related to worse performance only in the less familiar and more difficult number line tasks. Therefore, our data challenge the idea that HMA individuals might have less precise numerical representations and support the anxiety-complexity effect posited by Ashcraft and colleagues.

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The math anxiety-math performance link and its relation to individual and environmental factors: a review of current behavioral and psychophysiological research

Cited by 171 publications

References 42 publications

Achievement Emotions and Academic Performance: Longitudinal Models of Reciprocal Effects

Achievement Emotions and Academic Performance: Longitudinal Models of Reciprocal Effects

L2 anxiety and the foreign language reading anxiety scale: Listening to the evidence

Number line estimation in highly math‐anxious individuals

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