Math Anxiety Affects Skills As Basic As Counting 210
thirty-seven writes "According to four Canadian psychologists, a study they have conducted shows that math anxiety, 'the feeling of fear and dread of performing mathematical calculations,' can negatively affect mathematical tasks much simpler and more basic than previously thought. In the study, participants were asked to count black squares on a white screen. The number of squares shown ranged from one to nine and participants were given as much time as they wanted before answering. When the number of squares was in the subitizing range (one to four), both math-anxious and non-math-anxious participants performed equally well, but when the number of squares was in the counting range (five to nine), the math-anxious group took longer and were less accurate. The University of Waterloo's news release about the study includes this interesting note: 'Previous studies have shown that a weakness in basic math abilities has a greater negative effect on employment opportunities than reading difficulties [do].'"
Re:Isn't it obvious ? (Score:5, Informative)
Isn't it obvious that the fear of something will have an impact even on the simplest things where something relative to that fear is involved ?
Yes, but I think what this study was trying to test was how basic the task has to be for the fear response to have a measurable effect. Turns out, pretty damn basic.
We're learning more and more about math anxiety (Score:4, Informative)
Re:We're learning more and more about math anxiety (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Well... (Score:5, Informative)
That's because one doesn't have to count to four; one just sees the items as 'four of them'.
Re:Real math anxiety is... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Isn't it obvious ? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Isn't it obvious ? (Score:1, Informative)
( 7 * 10) + (7 * 3)
70 + 21
91
Very easy if you break it into chunks. I cannot solve 7 * 13 directly but can solve it in easy-to-digest-steps. I tend to attempt to re-cast the problem when forced to do it mentally.