Affect in Schema Knowledge: Source and Impact

Abstract

In this chapter, I discuss the role of affect in cognitive processing. The importance of affect in processing mathematical information is described in the context of solving arithmetic story problems. More specifically, I offer some ideas about the way affective responses to mathematical problem-solving situations influence the development, maintenance, and retrieval of information stored in human memory. I outline a model of human memory based upon schema knowledge structures, and I suggest how affective information may be stored within a schema. The chapter is concluded with a discussion of some affective responses to mathematics evidenced by students’ comments as they worked with story problems.