Abstract
This study used event-related brain potentials to investigate whether math anxiety is related to abnormal error monitoring processing. Seventeen high math-anxious (HMA) and seventeen low math-anxious (LMA) individuals were presented with a numerical and a classical Stroop task. Groups did not differ in terms of trait or state anxiety. We found enhanced error-related negativity (ERN) in the HMA group when subjects committed an error on the numerical Stroop task, but not on the classical Stroop task. Groups did not differ in terms of the correct-related negativity component (CRN), the error positivity component (Pe), classical behavioral measures or post-error measures. The amplitude of the ERN was negatively related to participants’ math anxiety scores, showing a more negative amplitude as the score increased. Moreover, using standardized low resolution electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) we found greater activation of the insula in errors on a numerical task as compared to errors in a non-numerical task only for the HMA group. The results were interpreted according to the motivational significance theory of the ERN.
Highlights
Math anxiety has been defined as a feeling of tension, apprehension or even dread, ranging from mild discomfort to extreme avoidance [1], which interferes with the ordinary manipulation of numbers and the solving of math problems [2]
Our objective was to help determine a possible factor in the development and maintenance of math anxiety and to further the understanding of the impairments experienced by the individuals who suffer from it
Thirty-four healthy volunteers were tested in this study, half high math anxious and the other half low math-anxious
Summary
Math anxiety has been defined as a feeling of tension, apprehension or even dread, ranging from mild discomfort to extreme avoidance [1], which interferes with the ordinary manipulation of numbers and the solving of math problems [2]. Behavioral studies have shown that math anxiety has a negative effect on a wide range of numerical and mathematical tasks, ranging from simple tasks like counting objects [3] to more complex arithmetical problems involving carrying [4]. Feelings of this kind make high math anxious individuals avoid situations that are math-intensive, and to avoid educational tracks and career paths that depend on this discipline. Given the negative impact of math anxiety on mathematical learning and professional development, its study has emerged as a topic deserving intensive investigation. Studying how math anxious individuals perceive their self-generated errors, how they respond or adjust to them and how they perceive a numerical error as compared to a non-numerical one constitutes a very rich source of information that can improve our understanding of their difficulties with the subject and may identify a possible factor influencing the development and persistence of math anxiety
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