Math Anxiety and Arithmetic Learning: Evidence for Impaired Procedural Learning and Enhanced Retrieval Learning
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| Title: | Math Anxiety and Arithmetic Learning: Evidence for Impaired Procedural Learning and Enhanced Retrieval Learning |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Cynthia Marie Fioriti (ORCID |
| Source: | Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 2025 51(12):1909-1925. |
| Availability: | American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 17 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (DHHS/NIH) National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) |
| Contract Number: | 1R01HD10042901A1 2201305 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Mathematics Anxiety, Mathematics Instruction, Arithmetic, Adults, Multiplication, Barriers, Repetition, Memory, College Students, Predictor Variables, Anxiety, Likert Scales, Cognitive Processes, Learning Processes |
| Geographic Terms: | District of Columbia |
| Assessment and Survey Identifiers: | State Trait Anxiety Inventory |
| DOI: | 10.1037/xlm0001453 |
| ISSN: | 0278-7393 1939-1285 |
| Abstract: | Previous research has shown that high math anxiety (HMA) detrimentally impacts math performance; however, limited work has examined how math anxiety may impact math "learning." The present study drew on our understanding of disparate long-term learning and memory systems to provide a framework for how HMA potentially disrupts specific types of math learning. Adult participants completed unfamiliar multiplication trials (e.g., 219 × 4 = ?) in two sessions across consecutive days. Repeated problems enabled retrieval arithmetic learning by repeating the same four problems a total of 72 times each (288 total trials). Unrepeated problems enabled procedural arithmetic learning by repeating a consistent problem structure but without ever repeating a specific problem (288 total trials). HMA subjects (HMAs) showed impaired learning of unrepeated problems suggesting that math anxiety may have disrupted procedural math learning. Conversely, learning of repeated problems was accelerated in HMAs relative to low math anxious subjects, suggesting enhanced retrieval learning. We interpret these results within the context of effort-avoidance and well-established learning and memory systems, suggesting that HMAs enhance effort on declarative memory-mediated retrieval learning possibly at the expense of efficiency gains in procedural memory-mediated learning of computational procedures. This work also suggests that the mechanisms linking math anxiety with math performance may differ in important ways from how math anxiety impacts math learning. Further, this work highlights the potential value of considering how math anxiety interacts with multiple types of math learning. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Notes: | https://osf.io/zc9nf/?view_only=2ef79dd4cbe64421b9f6447daa6f80ff |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1508994 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Previous research has shown that high math anxiety (HMA) detrimentally impacts math performance; however, limited work has examined how math anxiety may impact math "learning." The present study drew on our understanding of disparate long-term learning and memory systems to provide a framework for how HMA potentially disrupts specific types of math learning. Adult participants completed unfamiliar multiplication trials (e.g., 219 × 4 = ?) in two sessions across consecutive days. Repeated problems enabled retrieval arithmetic learning by repeating the same four problems a total of 72 times each (288 total trials). Unrepeated problems enabled procedural arithmetic learning by repeating a consistent problem structure but without ever repeating a specific problem (288 total trials). HMA subjects (HMAs) showed impaired learning of unrepeated problems suggesting that math anxiety may have disrupted procedural math learning. Conversely, learning of repeated problems was accelerated in HMAs relative to low math anxious subjects, suggesting enhanced retrieval learning. We interpret these results within the context of effort-avoidance and well-established learning and memory systems, suggesting that HMAs enhance effort on declarative memory-mediated retrieval learning possibly at the expense of efficiency gains in procedural memory-mediated learning of computational procedures. This work also suggests that the mechanisms linking math anxiety with math performance may differ in important ways from how math anxiety impacts math learning. Further, this work highlights the potential value of considering how math anxiety interacts with multiple types of math learning. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0278-7393 1939-1285 |
| DOI: | 10.1037/xlm0001453 |
