Math Anxiety Causes Trouble for Students as Early as First Grade

A recent study from the University of Chicago found that students report worry and fear about doing math as early as first grade.

Researchers surveyed 88 first-graders and 66 second-graders and determined that, even among the highest-achieving students, math anxiety influences working memory. Professor of psychology Sian Beilock defines working memory as “a kind of ‘mental scratchpad’ that allows us to ‘work’ with whatever information is temporarily flowing through consciousness.”

“Early math anxiety may lead to a snowball effect that exerts an increasing cost on math achievement by changing students’ attitudes and motivational approaches towards math, increasing math avoidance, and ultimately reducing math competence,” said Beilock in a University of Chicago press release.

Read the full article from the University of Chicago.

The findings will be published in the Journal of Cognition and Development.