While research continues to link increased math anxiety with reduced working memory, the exact nature of the relationship remains elusive. In addition, research regarding the extent of the impact math anxiety has on working memory is contradictory. This research clarifies the directional nature of math anxiety as it pertains to working memory, and…

Raven's matrices and inspection time (IT) were recorded from 56 subjects under five arousal levels. Raven's and IT correlated strongly (r = -0.7) as predicted by processing-speed theories of "g." In line with Eysenck's [Eysenck, H. J. (1967). "The biological basis of personality". Springfield, IL: Thomas] arousal theory of extraversion, there was…

Finds that extraverted children did better than introverted children on both a nonverbal coding task and simple and complex verbal fluency tasks. Notes that anxiety influenced girls' performances on the more complex verbal fluency task, but did not alter boys' performances. Compares these findings to those of similar studies of adults. (RL)