USC Aiken Undergrad Earns Research Award in Psychology

Aiken, SC (04/25/2019) — The Southeastern Psychological Association awarded a University of South Carolina Aiken student one of its highest awards during its 65th annual meeting in Jacksonville, Fla.

Hope Adams received the 2019 Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) Research Award for her study entitled, Math Anxiety May Be Reduced with Awareness and a Positive Interpretation. Adams presented her research during the Psi Chi International Honor Society in Psychology, Undergraduate Research Poster Session. A panel of judges selected the study from more than 100 posters presented during SEPA's annual meeting.

"We are extremely proud of Hope and the important research she's doing," said Dr. Anne Ellison, an assistant professor at USC Aiken.

"She is contributing greatly to this body of work."

Using a sample of 57 women, the study assessed the effects of anxiety and mindful awareness following performance on math tasks. The study found that individuals who reappraised their anxiety as excitement performed significantly better on a simple math task than those who did not. Women who reported negative attitudes about their math anxiety made more mistakes and were more likely to react to body sensations under stress. Participants with higher levels of mindfulness reported they did not react to their thoughts, emotions, or images about math also had higher functional math skills, which are those applied in real life.

In addition to psychological reports, the study used physiological markers of distress and arousal via electrodermal activity. EDA was not significantly different for either group, but there was an interesting trend. The group who did not reappraise their anxiety in the high mindful group had more electrodermal activity than those in the other groups.

"This study may inform future clinical efforts to reduce math anxiety using cognitive reappraisal and reframing strategies." Ellison said.

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