Poster #209 - Hand Gestures Reduce Math Anxiety: Converging Evidence from Eye-tracking, Physiological, Behavioral Measures and Self-reports

• In Event: 3-003 - Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Section - Social, Emotional, Personality

Integrative Statement

Mathematical proficiency is of great importance for individuals to succeed in modern society. Thus, most schools place great emphasis on math learning. Regrettably, many students are stressed in math learning because they are swamped by negative emotions whenever engaging in math- or numerical-related activities. Such condition is often referred to as math anxiety. It involves a feeling of tension, apprehension, or fear that interferes with math performance. Extensive evidence demonstrated the debilitating effects of MA on math learning (for a review, see Ashcraft & Ridley, 2005), suggesting that alleviating math anxiety may lead to a marked improvement in math achievement.

The theories of Embodied Cognition proposed that many features of cognition are shaped by the body of the organism. Built on these theories, present study examined the effects of the Daoist gesture and the fist gesture on math anxiety. The Daoist gesture originated from the traditional Daoist style of regimen. A way to produce the Daoist gesture is to put the thumb tip on the root of the ring finger, then grip other fingers slightly around the thumb. The Daoist gesture makes the hand’s muscles more relax compared to making a fist. It is also considered as a kind of mindfulness training tapping at body.

In present study, we examined whether the Daoist gesture and the fist gesture (compared to no-gesture group) would alleviate math anxiety aroused by a math task. We measured students’ self-report of anxiety, reaction time and response accuracy in the math task, as well as several physiological indices including heart rate variability (HRV), pupil size and electro dermal activity (EDA). Stimuli rendered in Song TC 25 font were displayed using the Psychtoolbox 3 and EyeLink Toolbox extensions in Matlab (2014a) on a 23-in Dell S2340M monitor (resolution = 1920 ×1080 pixels, refresh rate = 60 Hz). Eye movements were recorded using a SR-Research Eyelink1000 plus eye tracker sampling at a 500Hz rate. Viewing was binocular, but pupil size data were only collected from the right eye. ECG data (electrocardiogram) and SCR data were collected by using a BIOPAC MP36 data acquisition system and analyzed with Student lab software.

Results showed that: (1) Students’ pupil size, indicating the working-memory load, were bigger during math task than that during rest before the math task. (2) Students’ electro dermal activity (EDA), low frequency activity (lnLF) and high frequency activity (lnHF), indicating the intensity of negative emotion, were higher during the math task than that during rest. (3) The average reaction time in the math task of the Daoist gesture group and the fist group was shorter than that of the no-gesture group, meanwhile the pupil size, EDA, lnLF band during formal math task of the Daoist gesture and the fist group was smaller than that of the no-gesture group. (3) Results from self-reports, behavior and physiological measures were consistent, providing converging evidence for the effect of embodied gestures.

These results highlight the complex interplay between cognitive, affective and physical processes, providing insights into the potential intervention for math anxiety.

Authors

• Yan Mu, Sun Yat-sen University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Zijing He, Sun Yat-sen University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Yuyun He, Sun Yat-sen University
  Presenting Author