Math Anxiety and Arithmetic Learning: Evidence for Impaired Procedural Learning and Enhanced Retrieval Learning.
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...
| Published in: | Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory & Cognition Vol. 51; no. 12; pp. 1909 - 1926 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
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American Psychological Association
Dec2025
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=189105933&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 189105933 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 02787393 EXL jtl: Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory & Cognition issn: 02787393 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Dec2025 vid: 51 iid: 12 pid: 34 pub: American Psychological Association artinfo: ui: 189105933 10.1037/xlm0001453 ppf: 1909 ppct: 17 formats: tig: atl: Math Anxiety and Arithmetic Learning: Evidence for Impaired Procedural Learning and Enhanced Retrieval Learning. aug: au: Fioriti, Cynthia Marie Pizzie, Rachel G. Evans, Tanya M. Green, Adam E. Lyons, Ian M. affil: Department of Psychology, Georgetown University Educational Neuroscience Program, Gallaudet University School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia keyword: declarative memory math anxiety procedural learning procedural memory retrieval learning declarative memory math anxiety procedural learning procedural memory retrieval learning ab: 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. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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