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What pupil size can and cannot tell about math anxiety
Elvio Blini1, Giovanni Anobile2, Roberto Arrighi2
1Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Pharmacology and Child Health, University of Florence, Via di San Salvi 12, Building 26, Florence, 50136, Italy. elvioadalberto.blini@unifi.it.
Psychological Research
|August 24, 2024
Summary
Math anxiety (MA) negatively impacts math performance, measurable by pupil size (PS). Prolonged pupil dilation latency indicates greater cognitive effort in students with high MA, suggesting early interventions are crucial.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Educational Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Math anxiety (MA) is a significant barrier to numerical competence and STEM careers.
- Existing methods for assessing MA, like self-reports, may not capture its full complexity.
- There is a need for objective physiological measures to study MA.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate pupil size (PS) as a potential objective measure for math anxiety (MA).
- To explore the relationship between MA, arithmetic performance, and pupil size dynamics.
- To assess if pupil size changes can differentiate levels of MA in university students.
Main Methods:
- Administered arithmetic problems to 70 humanities university students with varying MA levels.
- Monitored pupil size (PS) responses during arithmetic task performance.
- Correlated MA scores with arithmetic competence, performance, and PS metrics (e.g., latency of peak dilation).
Main Results:
- Arithmetic competence and performance were negatively associated with MA.
- Pupil size (PS) changes accurately tracked arithmetic performance in relation to MA.
- The latency of PS peak dilation significantly predicted MA scores, suggesting prolonged cognitive effort in individuals with high MA.
Conclusions:
- Pupil size dynamics, particularly dilation latency, offer a promising objective measure for studying math anxiety.
- High math anxiety may be associated with increased cognitive effort during mathematical tasks.
- Early educational interventions are recommended to address the crystallized negative association between MA and mathematical competence in students.
