Math Anxiety and Predictors that Influence Arithmetic Fact Storage
| dc.contributor.advisor | Campbell, Jamie | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | McWilliams, Lachlan | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Prime, Steven | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Mickleborough, Marla | |
| dc.creator | Zhang, Liyoumei | |
| dc.creator.orcid | 0000-0002-9052-5577 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-09-15T22:48:37Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-09-15T22:48:37Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2022 | |
| dc.date.created | 2022-09 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2022-09-15 | |
| dc.date.submitted | September 2022 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2022-09-15T22:48:38Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Previous work proposed negative consequences of math anxiety on mathematical development by creating performance-related worries and intrusive thoughts that deplete the working memory resources for the math task at hand. However, those works focused in-depth on one psychological aspect (e.g., cognitive); thus, the current study aimed to fill this gap with the consideration of multiple perspectives (developmental, cognitive, anxiety-related) and explored predictors that influence people’s arithmetic fact storage in long-term memory. Participants (N = 202) performed two memory interference tasks (multiplication, picture-word agreement; each contains three types of problems, including true, related, and unrelated), a working memory capacity task (backward digit-span), and a questionnaire task that measured negative emotionality (including anxiety and closely-related constructs), math anxiety, insecure and secure attachment. As a result, we found that working memory capacity and math anxiety predicted math performance but not picture word performance. There was some evidence that working memory differences mediated the relationship between math anxiety and math performance. In addition, participants showed considerable memory interference effects in multiplication and picture-word tasks in terms of response time and accuracy, and this effect was found to be larger for the problems involved in math than picture-word. In contrast to absolute math performance, the multiplication interference effect did not vary with working memory or math anxiety measures, but attachment anxiety was positively related weakly to both multiplication and picture-word task interference. Taken collectively, the results imply some degree of independence between predictors of absolute math (i.e., multiplication) and associative interference effects in multiplication retrieval. | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10388/14175 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.subject | Math anxiety | |
| dc.subject | Memory interference | |
| dc.subject | Math performance | |
| dc.title | Math Anxiety and Predictors that Influence Arithmetic Fact Storage | |
| dc.type | Thesis | |
| dc.type.material | text | |
| thesis.degree.department | Psychology | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Psychology | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Saskatchewan | |
| thesis.degree.level | Masters | |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Arts (M.A.) |