Spatialization in working memory and its relation to math anxiety

Working memory (WM) is one of the most important cognitive functions that may play a role in the relation between math anxiety (MA) and math performance. The processing efficiency theory proposes that the rumination and worrisome thoughts (induced by MA) result in less available WM resources (which are needed to solve math problems). At the same time, high MA individuals have lower verbal and spatial WM capacity in general. Extending these findings, we found that MA is also linked to the spatial coding of serial order in verbal WM: Subjects who organize sequences from left-to-right in verbal WM show lower levels of MA compared to those who do not spatialize. Furthermore, these spatial coders have higher verbal WM capacity, better numerical order judgement abilities and higher math scores. These findings suggest that that spatially structuring the verbal mind is a promising cognitive correlate of the MA and opens new avenues for exploring causal links between elementary cognitive processes and the MA.