We are pleased to invite to the 4th Krakow Seminar on Mathematical Cognition, a monthly event series hosted by the Mathematical Cognition and Learning Lab.
The seminar is designed for anyone interested in the broad scope of topics related to mathematical cognition - from the neural mechanisms of numerical processing and the evolutionary roots of these skills to the science of mathematical learning and effective educational interventions. The meetings take place every second Tuesday of the month, held in a hybrid format: in-person at the MCLL laboratory and online.
For our 4th session on Tuesday, May 12th, we are honored to welcome Serena Rossi (Loughborough University), who will join us online to discuss how individual factors, such as confidence in math skills or general anxiety, can shape the relationship between math anxiety and mathematics performance.
Dr. Serena Rossi is a Lecturer in Mathematical Cognition at Loughborough University, UK. She completed her undergraduate and master's degrees in Developmental and Educational Psychology at the University of Padova, Italy, before moving to the UK to pursue her PhD at the Centre for Mathematical Cognition at Loughborough University. Following her doctoral studies, she worked as a Research Associate and University Teacher at the same institution before taking up her current position.
Her research focuses on numerical cognition, with a particular interest in the relationship between mathematics anxiety and arithmetic performance across childhood and adulthood. She is also involved in broader work on mathematical cognition and education, including the roles of general cognitive abilities, such as working memory, and financial literacy in young children.
Many people have negative attitudes and emotions towards mathematics, also known as “mathematics anxiety” (MA) (e.g., Dowker et al., 2016). MA is associated with avoidance behaviours, reduced engagement with mathematical classes, and poorer arithmetic performance (Ashcraft & Ridley, 2005). A robust body of research has consistently documented this negative relationship (Barroso et al., 2021; Caviola et al., 2022), though several factors appear to modulate it, including environmental influences such as social and contextual variables, and individual characteristics, such as cognitive, affective, and motivational domains (Chang & Beilock, 2016).
In this talk, dr. Serena Rossi will present a series of correlational studies examining how individual factors, including mathematics self-concept, self-efficacy, gender stereotypes, and other forms of anxiety (general and test anxiety), interact with and modulate the MA–arithmetic performance relationship. She will also address key methodological considerations in MA research, including findings from a dual-task study investigating the cognitive underpinnings of this relationship during arithmetic task completion in primary school children. Results will be discussed in light of the existing literature, with attention to future research directions and practical implications.
