Dataset for: The interplay of cognition and affect in fourth graders’ math performance: Role of working memory in mediating the effects of math anxiety and math interest on arithmetic fluency

Working memory (WM) capacity may influence students’ math performance together with their affective experiences, such as math anxiety (MA) and math interest. It has also been suggested that the influence of affect on performance might go through WM. The negative relationship between MA and math performance is well-established, and some studies have found WM to mediate this association. However, little is known, first, about the relationship between WM and math interest, and second, about the potential mediating effect of WM between interest and math performance. This study examined the direct and mediated effects of MA and interest through WM on fourth graders’ (N = 332) performance in arithmetic fluency, while controlling for generalized anxiety. Findings from structural equation modeling showed MA to predict performance negatively, while the effects of WM and interest were positive. There was a negative indirect effect from MA through WM on performance indicating partial mediation, while a corresponding, but positive, effect was not found for interest. Our results suggest that while both negative and positive affective experiences are related to math performance, the role of WM in explaining this link may be more pronounced regarding MA than interest.

工作记忆（Working Memory, WM）容量与学生的情感体验（如数学焦虑（Math Anxiety, MA）和数学兴趣）可能共同影响其数学学业表现。另有研究提出，情感因素对学业表现的影响或可通过工作记忆实现中介传导。数学焦虑与数学学业表现之间的负相关关系已得到广泛证实，部分研究表明工作记忆在二者的关联中发挥中介作用。然而目前尚存两处研究空白：其一，工作记忆与数学兴趣之间的关联尚未明晰；其二，数学兴趣与数学学业表现之间是否存在以工作记忆为中介的传导效应，相关探讨尚且不足。本研究以332名四年级学生为样本，在控制广泛性焦虑变量的条件下，考察了数学焦虑与数学兴趣分别通过工作记忆，对学生算术流畅性学业表现产生的直接效应与中介效应。本研究采用结构方程模型（Structural Equation Modeling, SEM）进行分析，结果显示数学焦虑对学业表现具有显著负向预测作用，而工作记忆与数学兴趣则对学业表现具有正向预测作用。数学焦虑通过工作记忆对学业表现产生的间接效应为负，表明工作记忆在数学焦虑与学业表现的关联中起部分中介作用；但未发现数学兴趣通过工作记忆产生类似的正向间接效应。本研究结果表明，尽管正负向情感体验均与数学学业表现存在关联，但工作记忆在解释二者关联时，针对数学焦虑的作用效果要显著强于针对数学兴趣的效果。