Use exposure-based desensitization to numerical symbols to address the number-processing pathway of math anxiety¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

For the number-processing pathway, the authors propose exposure-based therapy in which individuals are repeatedly exposed to numerical information so that they "become desensitized to numerical symbols". They point to Supekar and colleagues' finding that children with high MA showed lower amygdala activity after an intensive math tutoring program as a promising approach in this direction.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Repeated, structured exposure to numerical symbols and tasks over time

Constraints¶

• The desensitization mechanism is the authors' proposal; the supporting tutoring evidence is from a cited prior study with children, not tested here

Target Learners¶

• children with high math anxiety
• adolescents and adults needing desensitization protocols

Target Learning Goals¶

• symbolic number processing fluency
• reduced anxiety responses to numerical stimuli

Related Strategies¶

• Use magnitude-based number line games as candidate interventions for improving mental multi-digit subtraction

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Skagerlund K, Östergren R, Västfjäll D, Träff U (2019) How does mathematics anxiety impair mathematical abilities? Investigating the link between math anxiety, working memory, and number processing. PLoS ONE 14(1): e0211283. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0211283