Spatialization in Working Memory and its Relation to Math Anxiety

Working memory (WM) is one of the most important cognitive functions that may play a role in the relation between math anxiety (MA) and math performance. The processing efficiency theory proposes that the rumination and worrisome thoughts (induced by MA) result in less available WM resources (which are needed to solve math problems). At the same time, high MA individuals have lower verbal and spatial WM capacity in general. Extending these findings, we found that MA is also linked to the spatial coding of serial order in verbal WM: Subjects who organize sequences from left-to-right in verbal WM show lower levels of MA compared to those who do not spatialize. Furthermore, these spatial coders have higher verbal WM capacity, better numerical order judgement abilities and higher math scores. These findings suggest that that spatially structuring the verbal mind is a promising cognitive correlate of the MA and opens new avenues for exploring causal links between elementary cognitive processes and the MA.

Modeling the Causal Relationships among Test Anxiety, Working Memory, and Academic Achievement of Primary Stage Students in Oman in the Light of the Processing Efficiency Theory

This study aimed at investigating the relationships among test anxiety, working memory, and academic achievement in the light of the processing efficiency theory. The sample of the study included 159 fifth graders (84 females and 75 males) distributed over three public elementary schools in the Sultanate of Oman. Results of the mean testing analysis showed that the participants had high levels of worry and emotionality as well as overall test anxiety (both worry and emotionality). The results of the structural equation modeling analysis showed that (1) worry and emotionality had negative effects on central executive, phonological loop, and visuo-spatial sketch pad; (2) emotionality had a negative effect on the visuo-spatial sketch pad, and (3) central executive, phonological loop, and visuo-spatial sketch pad had positive effects on academic achievement. The results of the mediation analysis showed that the central executive and the phonological loop mediated the relationship between worry and academic achievement, and that the central executive, phonological loop, and visuo-spatial sketch pad mediated the relationship between emotionality and academic achievement. The results of the moderation analysis showed that gender was not a moderator of the relationships among worry, emotionality, central executive, phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketch pad, and academic achievement.

Analogy Learning and the Performance of Motor Skills under Pressure

The efficacy of analogical instruction, relative to explicit instruction, for the acquisition of a complex motor skill and subsequent performance under pressure was investigated using a modified (seated) basketball shooting task. Differences in attentional resource allocation associated with analogy and explicit learning were also examined using probe reaction times (PRT). Access to task-relevant explicit (declarative) knowledge was assessed. The analogy and explicit learning groups performed equally well during learning and delayed retention tests. The explicit group experienced a drop in performance during a pressured transfer test, relative to their performance during a preceding retention test. However, the analogy group's performance was unaffected by the pressure manipulation. Results from PRTs suggested that both groups allocated equal amounts of attentional resources to the task throughout learning and test trials. Analogy learners had significantly less access to rules about the mechanics of their movements, relative to explicit learners. The results are interpreted in the context of Eysenck and Calvo's (1992) processing efficiency theory and Masters's (1992) theory of reinvestment.