Poster #9 - Effort, and Anticipation of Math.

• In Event: Poster Session 15

Abstract

Pupil dilation has been consistently observed to increase as participants solve more difficult mathematical tasks (Kahneman and Beatty, 1966; Hess and Polt, 1964) becoming a proxy for cognitive load or mental effort. More recently, correlations have been found between the activation of brain regions associated with visceral threat detection and pain when mathematical tasks are anticipated (Lyons, et al., 2012). Therefore, in this study we are examining pupil size variation in anticipation to math tasks as a complement to the paradigms traditionally used to measure cognitive load while solving math tasks. As proof of concept, we have measured five-year old’s pupil dilation in anticipation and during the process of solving easy and more difficult math tasks (N=10). We found that participants pupil size increases meaningfully as soon as they are presented mathematical stimuli as part of a screen-based eye-tracking task. We also observed variation in pupil dilation at the moment in which the mathematical stimuli are announced by a visual cue. A substantial sample size will allow us to determine if these mathematical tasks function as a target for a specific group of children (N=60). We hypothesize that greater pupil dilation in anticipation of math tasks will be observed among the children who self-report lower levels of math enjoyment. Our interest in exploring the anticipation of math tasks in preschool age children originates in the low yet persistent levels of math anxiety reported worldwide for children in primary school age, and the suggestions that elements and people in the children’s environments might contribute to the development of this math specific anxiety which in some cases seems to start even before children reach age four (Geist, E.,2015; Maloney et. al., 2015). Given this, we aim to assess and separate math specific anxiety from reading specific anxiety in children and their caregivers by inviting them to solve screen-based eye-tracking math and reading tasks. In addition to these tasks, we ask the caregivers to complete a math anxiety, reading anxiety and a generalized positive and negative affect Likert scale questionnaire. We also ask the children to rate their enjoyment of math and reading tasks by placing dices and letter blocks somewhere along a ruler labeled with a number line from one to ten which contains a happy emoji at one end and a sad one at the other. Children and their caregivers complete an analog Corsi-Block tapping test to control for their visuospatial working memory capacity as this has been found to be strongly related to addition and subtraction skills, especially at a young age (Sanne, et al., 2013). We intend to analyze the data by grouping participants according to their self-reports of mathematics enjoyment and math and reading specific anxieties to explore their relation to their visuospatial capacity, and pupil dilation measures in anticipation and during the processing of math and reading tasks. This study will represent a first step towards a better understanding of relations between cognitive load and anticipation of math stimuli in preschool age children and their caregivers.

Author

• Laura Yasy Galeano, Uppsala universitet
  Presenting Author