were an antecedent to response time or whether they occurred following response time. The present study is limited by the extent to which maths anxiety is manipulated. However, experimental designs could be used to examine the importance of particular thoughts in math anxious individuals by manipulating them; for example regular reminders of a time limit (c.f. Kellogg, Hopko & Ashcraft, 1999) or the use of a flashing camera light to increase awareness that performance is being observed. It would also be interesting to investigate the relationship between math anxiety and arithmetic performance, and the importance of intrusive thoughts about previous math experiences, as previous research has emphasised the importance of negative math experiences as antecedents to math anxiety (Trujillo & Hadfield, 1999). In conclusion, math anxiety was shown to be a significant predictor of response time to both carry and no-carry problems. In addition, math anxiety was related to a higher error rate on problems involving a carry operation. Importantly, the extent to which intrusive thoughts impeded calculation mediated this relationship. These findings provide support for an inhibition theory account of math anxiety effects on performance. Intrusive thoughts should be the focus of future research that investigates the relationship between math anxiety and performance. References Ashcraft, M. H. (2002). Math anxiety: Personal, educational, and cognitive consequences. 181–185. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, Ashcraft, M. H., & Faust, M. W. (1994). Mathematics anxiety and mental arithmetic performance: An exploratory investigation. 97–125. doi: Cognition and Emotion, 8, 10.1080/02699939408408931 Ashcraft, M. H., & Moore, a. M. (2009). Mathematics anxiety and the affective drop in performance. 197–205. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 27, doi:10.1177/0734282908330580
were an antecedent to response time or whether they occurred following response time. The present study is limited by the extent to which maths anxiety is manipulated. However, experimental designs could be used to examine the importance of particular thoughts in math anxious individuals by manipulating them; for example regular reminders of a time limit (c.f. Kellogg, Hopko & Ashcraft, 1999) or the use of a flashing camera light to increase awareness that performance is being observed. It would also be interesting to investigate the relationship between math anxiety and arithmetic performance, and the importance of intrusive thoughts about previous math experiences, as previous research has emphasised the importance of negative math experiences as antecedents to math anxiety (Trujillo & Hadfield, 1999). In conclusion, math anxiety was shown to be a significant predictor of response time to both carry and no-carry problems. In addition, math anxiety was related to a higher error rate on problems involving a carry operation. Importantly, the extent to which intrusive thoughts impeded calculation mediated this relationship. These findings provide support for an inhibition theory account of math anxiety effects on performance. Intrusive thoughts should be the focus of future research that investigates the relationship between math anxiety and performance. References Ashcraft, M. H. (2002). Math anxiety: Personal, educational, and cognitive consequences. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 181–185. Ashcraft, M. H., & Faust, M. W. (1994). Mathematics anxiety and mental arithmetic performance: An exploratory investigation. Cognition and Emotion, 8, 97–125. doi: 10.1080/02699939408408931 Ashcraft, M. H., & Moore, a. M. (2009). Mathematics anxiety and the affective drop in performance. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 27, 197–205. doi:10.1177/0734282908330580
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