What is 'maths anxiety' ?

So what is meant by ‘maths anxiety’?

It appears that Richardson & Suinn’s (1972) definition is generally accepted as a broad measure of what constitutes maths anxiety where it is described as a person’s negative affective reaction to situations involving numbers, math, and mathematics calculations, “a feeling of tension and anxiety that interferes with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems in a wide variety of ordinary life and academic situations” (p. 551 in Ashcraft & Moore, 2009, p. 197). Ashcroft and Faust (1994, in Sheffield and Hunt, 2007, p.19) describe it in even stronger terms to suggest maths anxiety is “feelings of tension, apprehension, or even dread…” Students may feel their heart beating quicker and demonstrate a lack of self concept towards mathematical problems (p. 19).

This palpable sense of dread was clearly evident in my son as a youngster when faced with mathematics. The emotive or affective aspect seems to resonate strongly within these definitions which somewhat supports a functionalist approach to emotion where emotion is central to all our endeavors including cognitive processing (Berk, 2009, p. 400).Within this construct of emotion-cognition relationship, anxiety directly impacts upon performance with high levels severely impairing performance (p. 400).

Is maths anxiety a specific learning disorder (SLD)?

While argument still exists over agreeing upon a uniform definition for SLDs, Chapman & Tumner (2000, p. 247) describe an SLD as an unexpected, persistent, and specific difficulty that initially appears in one learning area. They refer to the following definition (p. 241):

Definition 1: The 1977 U.S. Office of Education 
The term "specific learning disability" means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include children who have learning disabilities which are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, or mental retardation, or emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

(United States Office of Education. (1977). Definition and criteria for defining students as learning disabled. Federal Register, 42:250, p. 65083. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.)

If we are to use this, the question then becomes, applying the ‘exclusion factor’, what is an emotional disturbance, and is maths anxiety more than (or less than) and emotional disturbance? By reading further in Chapman & Tumner (2000), they situate SLDs using a broader view that takes into account cognitive and motivational processes. Referring to previous research (Chapman, 1988; Chapman & Tumner 1995a, 1997, they further point out that persistent failure in learning can lead to the development of negative academic self-concepts (p. 246). So maths anxiety could be a SLD if…

Krinzinger, Kaufmann & Willmes (2009) perhaps provide a little bit of clarity. They purport that while maths anxiety is often associated with Mathematical Learning Disabilities, “the emotional aspects often associated with these

primarily cognitive problems are often neglected” (p.206). Interestingly they refer to Lang (1968) who stated that maths anxiety is-like any other phobia-influencing individuals on three different levels: physiologically, cognitively, and behaviourally. These directly parallel the observations I had made of my son and would tend to support our thought that he did indeed suffer from maths anxiety.

However, while this tells me what maths anxiety is, it raises even more questions. What causes maths anxiety, and more importantly what comes first, the chicken or the egg? (i.e. does maths anxiety cause poor performance or does a lack of self concept lead to anxiety?)

References 

Ashcraft, M, & Moore, A. (2009). Mathematics anxiety and the

affective drop in performance. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 27(3), pp. 197 – 205. Retreived from:

http://jpa.sagepub.com/content/27/3/197.abstract

Berk, L. (2009). Child Development (8Ed). Boston, USA: Pearson Education

Chapman, J., & Tumner, W. (2000). Students with learning and reading difficulties . In D. Fraser, R. Molten and K. Ryba (Eds.), Learners with Special Needs in Aotearoa New Zealand. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Dunmore Press.

Krinzinger, H., Kaufmann, L., & Willmes, K. (2009). Math anxiety and math ability in early primary school years. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 27(3), pp. 206 – 225. Retrieved from:

http://jpa.sagepub.com/content/27/3/206

Sheffield, D, & Hunt, T. (2007). How does anxiety influence maths performance and what can we do about It? MSOR Connections, 6(4), pp. 19 – 23. Retrieved from:

http://www.ltsn.gla.ac.uk/headocs/6419_anxietymaths.pdf