When French mathematician Lawrence Watts was in high school, he started to worry that he wasn't smart enough to solve math problems.
Maybe you know a similar feeling. You sit down to take a math test, and you feel your heart beat faster and your palms start to sweat. You get butterflies in your stomach and you can't concentrate.
This phenomenon is called math anxiety.And if it happens to you, you are not alone.Researchers think about 20% of the population suffers from it.
Some psychologists even consider it a diagnosable condition. But having mathematical anxiety doesn't necessarily mean you are bad at math, not even close.
Lawrence Watts went on to win the Fields Medal–– the highest award in mathematics.
People might think that they are anxious about math because they are bad at it, but it's often the other way around.
They are doing poorly in math because they are anxious about it. Some psychologists think that's because math anxiety decreases a cognitive resource called working memory.
That's the short term memory system that helps you organize the information you need to complete a task.
Worrying about being able to solve math problems or not doing well on a test eats up working memory, Leaving less of it available to tackle the math itself.
mathematician 数学家
get butterflies in your stomach 忐忑不安,心里发慌
diagnosable 可诊断的
not even close相差甚远，完全不是一回事儿
go on to do 继而,后来做某事
the other way around 恰恰相反，情况颠倒
working memory 工作记忆(心理学专业术语)
not necessarily 未必
diagnosable 可诊断的
eat up 耗费(大量金钱，时间或资源)
