According to Paul Nolting’s book “Winning at Math: Your Guide to Learning Mathematics Through Successful Study Skills “(2002), students, when reading a math textbook or learning mathematics in the classroom, their anxiety can affect their sensory register and short term memory. Anxiety, according to Nolting (2002), can hinder people’s speed in processing information and can reduce the amount of information they can hold for a short time. This means that less information is processing into their working memory where mathematics information is combined and learned. (Nolting, 2002) Also, Nolting (2002) stated that anxiety affects working memory by decreasing the amount of information that can be processed at the same time. The result is less …show more content…
Math anxiety uses up working memory resources that make it harder to learn math. The result is a slow performance and a decrease in accuracy, resulting in poorer grades. (Nolting, 2002) It is also indicated, (Nolting, 2002) that one of the most common side effects of test anxiety is getting the test and immediately forgetting the information that you know. Some students describe this event as having a 'mental block. "going blank. (Nolting, 2002) According to Nolting, (2002) sometimes students with math test anxiety do not "go blank," but it takes longer to recall formulas and concepts and to work problems. However, the effect will be disappointment and loss of time, leading to more anxiety. (Nolting, 2002) Nolting (2002) indicated that for other students, anxiety lasts throughout the test and they cannot recall the needed information. It is only after they walk out the door that they can remember how to work the problems. When this happens, they often get mad at themselves, which increases their fears that the same thing will happen on the next test. (Nolting,