CAPACITY, INCLINATION, AND SENSITIVITY FOR MATHEMATICS

The search for the determinants of mathematics performance has a long tradition in psychology, and gender-related differences in math perfor mance and in self-concept of math ability have been underscored. Recen tly, researchers have argued that affective variables may indirectly i nfluence, and thereby partially explain, math achievement. If true, af fective variables may be one key to helping students overcome math lim itations. However, affective information processing is not a unitary c onstruct and instruments to measure the impact of various aspects of a ffective information processing on math performance are scarce. descri be studies focusing on the effect of cognitions and emotions on math p erformance and devote special attention to the detrimental effect of t ension and discomfort and the beneficial effect of emotion control.