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The relationships among working memory, math anxiety, and performance.

Bibliographic Data

ID23328304
AuthorsMark H Ashcraft (Cleveland State University), Elizabeth Kirk (0000-0002-2507-1185), Elizabeth P Kirk
Year2001
Volume130
Issue2
Pages224-237
Publication date2001-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Experimental Psychology: General (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0096-3445 • E-ISSN: 1939-2222
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/0096-3445.130.2.224
PMID11409101
OpenAlexW2163533896
LanguageEN
Citations received154
References cited7

Individuals with high math anxiety demonstrated smaller working memory spans, especially when assessed with a computation-based span task. This reduced working memory capacity led to a pronounced increase in reaction time and errors when mental addition was performed concurrently with a memory load task. The effects of the reduction also generalized to a working memory-intensive transformation task. Overall, the results demonstrated that an individual difference variable, math anxiety, affects on-line performance in math-related tasks and that this effect is a transitory disruption of working memory. The authors consider a possible mechanism underlying this effect--disruption of central executive processes--and suggest that individual difference variables like math anxiety deserve greater empirical attention, especially on assessments of working memory capacity and functioning.

Anxiety · Arithmetic · Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Developmental psychology · Mathematical anxiety · Mathematics education · Psychiatry · Working memory · Cognitive Abilities and Testing · Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills · Education, Achievement, and Giftedness · Mathematics · Psychology

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Unique citing works154
Citations per year6,42
Citation span2002 - 2026 (25)
Citation velocitycurrent
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Citation typesNeutral: 128
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