According to Skemp, half of the people surveyed about mathematics in a 1978 study refused to answer questions when they heard the subject of the study was mathematics. This indicates that there was widespread fear of the subject. Fear may inhibit students from attempting to study mathematics or cause them to blank out when taking math tests. Successful mathematics teachers approach the subject with the right balance of encouragement and instruction to reduce students' fear.
Students' beliefs about mathematics may interfere with their ability to grasp mathematical concepts. For example, some female students may believe that girls cannot do as well in math as boys. These students may not try as hard because they do not believe they are capable of success.
Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies how we learn. According to math Professor Lyn English, mathematics education has changed over time because of new understanding of learning processes. For example, in the 1920s drilling and repetition were key components of mathematics education. In more recent times, mathematics education has included hands-on activities because psychologists believe that children learn best through activity.
Psychology Today says that current educational philosophy appears to be to subject children who are not learning a subject to even more hours of that subject in school. Instead of learning, though, children may become overwhelmed.
As far back as 1929, studies were being done to assess the effects of oversaturation of mathematical education on children's mathematical knowledge. Psychology Today describes the results of one such study, in which students were not subjected to arithmetic until the sixth grade. The results of this study showed that students who did not study mathematics until sixth grade did as well as or better than students who began learning arithmetic in first grade.
Math teachers must possess certain characteristics for students to learn math. The teachers must be encouraging, and they must not be afraid of math themselves. A 2005 study republished in Psychology Today showed that the majority of teachers in a New Jersey school did not know basic mathematical concepts and were afraid that students would realize that they lacked knowledge. These teachers discouraged questions from students for fear of being found out. Many of them did not grasp mathematical concepts because they themselves were afraid of math.