Math Anxiety, Working Memory, and Math Achievement in Early Elementary School

Abstract Although math anxiety is associated with poor mathematical knowledge and low course grades (Ashcraft & Krause, Citation2007), research establishing a connection between math anxiety and math achievement has generally been conducted with young adults, ignoring the emergence of math anxiety in young children. In the current study, we explored whether math anxiety relates to young children's math achievement. One hundred and fifty-four first- and second-grade children (69 boys, 85 girls) were given a measure of math achievement and working memory (WM). Several days later, children's math anxiety was assessed using a newly developed scale. Paralleling work with adults (Beilock, Citation2008), we found a…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• JA
  Johnson and Johnson