ABSTRACT
Psychology has demonstrated that anxiety can drain mental resources involved in working memory making solving a problem too difficult, thus entering a cycle of anxiety and underachievement. Training to boost resources available for working memory has been examined with limited success, the main problem being that of transfer. Improvements in working memory tasks do not inevitably lead to improvements in maths attainment. In maths education, times have seen a shift in the attainment of the sexes. In relation to this, there have been an abundance of international comparative studies in mathematics education that we can draw upon to gain insight into how we can improve the learning of mathematics. An anthropological perspective highlights considerable cultural variation in learning styles and mathematical instruction, both in the contemporary world as well as throughout history. Anthropologists and historians have examined the interplay in past societies among mathematical practitioners, schools training for scribal/administrative functions, and mathematical theory.
