Abstract

CAMPOS, Ana Maria Antunes de. Mathematical Anxiety: Cognitive and affective factors. Rev. psicopedag. [online]. 2022, vol.39, n.119, pp. 217-228. ISSN 0103-8486.  http://dx.doi.org/10.51207/2179-4057.20220019.

Mathematical anxiety is an aversion and fear related to activities that involve mathematics and has two different dimensions: cognitive and affective. In order to understand the discussions related to mathematical anxiety, we carried out a survey of the productions published in bibliographic databases. The first criterion for identifying the research was the presence, in the title, abstract and keywords, of the descriptors "mathematical anxiety"; "math anxiety"; "mathematical anxiety"; the second criterion was open access to the publication. We classified the studies found and that meet the search descriptors. That said, this review article aims to analyze the works on the neurobiological bases focused on the cognitive and affective dimensions of mathematical anxiety. Based on the analysis of these works, we built a framework that presents behavioral patterns of risks to mathematical anxiety, which can manifest themselves in students in the educational or daily context. Some studies are concerned with measuring levels of mathematical anxiety and thus we present some psychometric scales that have been developed over the years. It was possible to observe that motivation, self-concept, self-efficacy, emotions, cognition and affect are variables that have the potential to identify and optimize the learning process of students with mathematical anxiety, taking into account the pace and individual differences.

Keywords : Working Memory; Motivation; Cognition; Affection; Self-concept; Self-efficacy.

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