Abstract
This study investigates posture on mental math performance. 125 students (M = 23.5 years) participated as part of a class activity. Half the students sat in an erect position while the other half sat in a slouched position and were asked to mentally subtract 7 serially from 964 for 30 seconds. They then reversed the positions before repeating the math subtraction task beginning at 834. They rated the math task difficulty on a scale from 0 (none) to 10 (extreme). The math test was rated significantly more difficult while sitting slouched (M = 6.2) than while sitting erect (M = 4.9) ANOVA [ F (1,243) = 17.06, p < 0.001]. Participants with the highest test anxiety, math difficulty and blanking out scores (TAMDBOS) rated the math task significantly more difficult in the slouched position (M = 7.0) as compared to the erect position (M = 4.8) ANOVA [ F (1,75) = 17.85, p < 0.001]. Tor the participants with the lowest 30% TAMDBOS, there was no significant difference between slouched (M=4.90) and erect positions (M = 4.0). The participants with the highest TAMDBOS experienced significantly more somatic symptoms as compared with the lowest TAMDBOS. Discussed are processes such as stereotypic threat associated with a ‘defense reaction’ by which posture can affect mental math and inhibit abstract thinking. Moreover, clinicians who work with students who have learning difficulty may improve outcome if they include posture changes.
Highlights
Many students perform poorly on cognitive tasks such as mental arithmetic when under situations of perceived threat (Moore, Vine, Wilson, & Freeman, 2012; Schmader, Hall, & Croft, 2015)
The term stereotype threat refers to a type of performance decline applied when “...people underperform relative to their ability merely because they are aware of a negative stereotype about how they should perform—e.g., a female student aware of the stereotype that ‘boys are better than girls at mathematics’” (Maloney, Schaeffer, & Beilock, 2013, p. 116)
The slouched position was associated with increased difficulty in performing a math subtraction task for 15 s, especially for students reporting higher test anxiety, math difficulty, and blanking out on exams
Summary
Many students perform poorly on cognitive tasks such as mental arithmetic when under situations of perceived threat (Moore, Vine, Wilson, & Freeman, 2012; Schmader, Hall, & Croft, 2015). Whereas Ramirez, Shaw, et al (2018) have provided types of interpretations or threat appraisals related to math performance, others such as Turner et al (2002) suggest that math anxiety can result in toxic strain related to SET interpretations or appraisals when, for example, students perceive themselves as ‘‘vulnerable to public displays of incompetence’’ Hermans, van Marle, Luo, and Fernández (2009) showed that “induced acute stress resulted in significantly reduced working memory-related activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and was accompanied by less deactivation in brain regions that are jointly referred to as the default mode network.”. Chronic stress, such as repeated threat perceptions associated with poor doi:10.15540/nr.5.2.67. The purpose of this study explores the extent to which adjustments in postural positions influence performance on a simple subtraction task under conditions of time pressure
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