The Relation Between Math Anxiety and Play Behaviors in 4- to 6-Year-Old Children
From a young age, children’s math achievement is influenced by individual factors, such as math anxiety. While math anxiety has been linked to math avoidance, few studies have explored this link in young children, particularly in the context of play. Because play-based instruction is commonly used f...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Insitute for Psychology
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Numerical Cognition |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jnc.psychopen.eu/index.php/jnc/article/view/9721 |
| _version_ | 1797685990127566848 |
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| author | Mary DePascale Lucas Payne Butler Geetha B. Ramani |
| author_facet | Mary DePascale Lucas Payne Butler Geetha B. Ramani |
| author_sort | Mary DePascale |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | From a young age, children’s math achievement is influenced by individual factors, such as math anxiety. While math anxiety has been linked to math avoidance, few studies have explored this link in young children, particularly in the context of play. Because play-based instruction is commonly used for math in early childhood classrooms, understanding the impact of math anxiety on children’s engagement in math-related play may have important implications for children’s early math learning. The current study examined the role of children’s math anxiety in their persistence and exploration during a math toy play task. We observed wide variability in children’s play behaviors, finding that children’s actions during play did not relate to their math anxiety, but their talk related to math while playing with the toy did. There are also age and gender differences in math anxiety, school experience, and reasoning about the toy play task. These results suggest that math anxiety may influence certain aspects of children’s engagement in math-related play, and that more research is needed to consider links between math anxiety and math avoidance in young children. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T00:59:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-77e6549956664945992792a592f17e91 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2363-8761 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T00:59:14Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Insitute for Psychology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Numerical Cognition |
| spelling | doaj.art-77e6549956664945992792a592f17e912023-09-14T09:33:11ZengPsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Insitute for PsychologyJournal of Numerical Cognition2363-87612023-03-01918910610.5964/jnc.9721jnc.9721The Relation Between Math Anxiety and Play Behaviors in 4- to 6-Year-Old ChildrenMary DePascale0Lucas Payne Butler1Geetha B. Ramani2Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, USADepartment of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, USADepartment of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, USAFrom a young age, children’s math achievement is influenced by individual factors, such as math anxiety. While math anxiety has been linked to math avoidance, few studies have explored this link in young children, particularly in the context of play. Because play-based instruction is commonly used for math in early childhood classrooms, understanding the impact of math anxiety on children’s engagement in math-related play may have important implications for children’s early math learning. The current study examined the role of children’s math anxiety in their persistence and exploration during a math toy play task. We observed wide variability in children’s play behaviors, finding that children’s actions during play did not relate to their math anxiety, but their talk related to math while playing with the toy did. There are also age and gender differences in math anxiety, school experience, and reasoning about the toy play task. These results suggest that math anxiety may influence certain aspects of children’s engagement in math-related play, and that more research is needed to consider links between math anxiety and math avoidance in young children.https://jnc.psychopen.eu/index.php/jnc/article/view/9721math anxietymath avoidanceplayexplorationpersistence |
| spellingShingle | Mary DePascale Lucas Payne Butler Geetha B. Ramani The Relation Between Math Anxiety and Play Behaviors in 4- to 6-Year-Old Children Journal of Numerical Cognition math anxiety math avoidance play exploration persistence |
| title | The Relation Between Math Anxiety and Play Behaviors in 4- to 6-Year-Old Children |
| title_full | The Relation Between Math Anxiety and Play Behaviors in 4- to 6-Year-Old Children |
| title_fullStr | The Relation Between Math Anxiety and Play Behaviors in 4- to 6-Year-Old Children |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Relation Between Math Anxiety and Play Behaviors in 4- to 6-Year-Old Children |
| title_short | The Relation Between Math Anxiety and Play Behaviors in 4- to 6-Year-Old Children |
| title_sort | relation between math anxiety and play behaviors in 4 to 6 year old children |
| topic | math anxiety math avoidance play exploration persistence |
| url | https://jnc.psychopen.eu/index.php/jnc/article/view/9721 |
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