July 31, 1998 Writer: Cathy Keen, firstname.lastname@example.org
Sources: Barbara Probert, Edward Delgado-Romero, (352) 392-1575
GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- To the fear of math, flying and other
stressful problems of modern high-tech life add
‘computerphobia,' say University of Florida psychologists. Just
as a single bad experience can discourage people from balancing
a checkbook, calculating a tip or doing other simple math tasks,
it also can lead to computer anxiety, said Barbara Probert, a UF
psychologist who has researched the fear of math and led
confidence workshops on the subject for more than a decade.
"Even well-meaning kidding can do harm," said Edward Delgado-
Romero, who, like Probert, is a professor at UF's counseling
center and sees computer-anxious students. "If you have a bad
experience on the computer and people start teasing, you could
become known as the one who doesn't know computers and it
becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy." Some of the techniques for
dealing with math anxiety also work for com