U-M study: Smarter kids can choke under pressure

ANN ARBOR-Whether it's initiated by their parents, friends or themselves, students often feel pressure to perform well in tests. That pressure is more intense for typically smarter students who, under certain conditions, are more likely to choke on math tests than children with lower memory skills, according to a new University of Michigan study. Previous studies showed that anxiety consumes people's memory capacity, which can compromise their performance. U-M researchers sought to test situations that would lead to grade school children feeling pressured to do well on math problems. The researchers recruited 53 third and fourth graders in China to solve three-digit addition problems. They had to complete the equations from left to right without the aid of paper and pencil - a tactic encouraged by their teachers in school. In the memory test, students had to solve an equation and were asked to select from two possible answers.