Less precise representation of numerical magnitude in high math-anxious individuals: An ERP study of the size and distance effects

Numerical comparison tasks are widely used to study the mental representation of numerical magnitude. In study, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded while 26 high math-anxious (HMA) and 27 low math-anxious (LMA) individuals were presented with pairs of single-digit Arabic numbers and...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Authors: Núñez Peña, María Isabel, Suárez Pellicioni, Macarena
Format: article
Status:Versión aceptada para publicación
Publication Date:2014
Country:España
Institution:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repository:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/169207
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/169207
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Ensenyament de la matemàtica
Ansietat
Potencials evocats (Electrofisiologia)
Mathematics education
Anxiety
Evoked potentials (Electrophysiology)
Description
Summary:Numerical comparison tasks are widely used to study the mental representation of numerical magnitude. In study, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded while 26 high math-anxious (HMA) and 27 low math-anxious (LMA) individuals were presented with pairs of single-digit Arabic numbers and were asked to decide which one had the larger numerical magnitude. The size of the numbers and the distance between them were manipulated in order to study the size and the distance effects. The results showed that both distance and size effects were larger for the HMA group. As for ERPs, results showed that the ERP distance effect had larger amplitude for both the size and distance effects in the HMA group than among their LMA counterparts. Since this component has been taken as a marker of the processing of numerical magnitude, this result suggests that HMA individuals have a less precise representation of numerical magnitude.