Interactivity, stereotype threat, and working memory

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the role of interactivity (the use of pen and paper) in defusingthe impact of stereotype threat on difficult mental arithmetic tasks, covering all four operations of mathematics. Eighty-four16-year-old girls from secondary schools in South East England (UK) participated in this study. Participants carried out (in aneducational setting) difficult, multi-digit mental arithmetic tasks in a stereotype threat or control condition, crossed with interac-tivity or no interactivity. The primary dependent variables were the overall performance of the participants in accuracy, latencyto solution, working memory, and mathematics anxiety. Increased interactivity enhanced mental arithmetic performance. Girlsin the stereotype condition performed worse in the working memory test than the participants in the control condition. However,there was no causal role of working memory in reduced mathematics performance under stereotype threat. Reasons for thisfinding and recommendations for future studies are discussed.