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Psychology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Cognitive Psychology

2020

California State University, San Bernardino

Working memory capacity

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The Role Of Numerical Processing And Working Memory Capacity On The Relationship Between Math Anxiety And Math Performance, Pilar Olid Mar 2020

The Role Of Numerical Processing And Working Memory Capacity On The Relationship Between Math Anxiety And Math Performance, Pilar Olid

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Math anxiety refers to a negative emotional response to math-related stimuli. Studies have found a negative correlation between math anxiety and math performance—as math anxiety increases, math performance decreases. According to Attentional Control Theory (Eysenck et al., 2007), anxiety impairs executive functions via depletion of working memory (WM) resources. Therefore, math anxiety affects math performance by consuming WM resources. Additionally, poor math performance is attributed to poor numerical processing (NP), which is the ability to estimate quantities. Recent research suggested that math anxiety affects arithmetic indirectly through working memory capacity (WMC) and NP, and that math anxiety affects numeracy—ratios, fractions, …