Factors affecting mental calculus used as cognitive stimuli to improve motor performance of a manual pointing task

Everyday life activities usually involves the processing of multi-digit numbers. For example, shopping and board games require mathematical abilities. Numerical cognition and movement preparation may share similar cerebral mechanisms and/or mathematical representations may be rooted in bodily experiences. Recent studies have shown that numerical and arithmetical tasks can influence the performance of a subsequent movement. Factors that can influence the success of such arithmetic cognitive stimuli are not examined yet. The aim of this study was to identity factors affecting mental calculus stimuli used to improve motor performance of a manual pointing task (MPT). Participants, who recently underwent an experimental study aimed to evaluate the effect of mental calculus on a MPT, have been interviewed. Interviews, consisting of a semi-structured open-ended questions discussion, have been analyzed by Alceste Software® (Alceste: Reinert, 1983; Kalampalikis, 2003). Results showed that the richness of the vocabulary was 95.34%. Analysis of the discourses showed that factors such as environment, difficulty of equations and math anxiety affected the perception of the arithmetic cognitive stimuli. We concluded that stress due to math anxiety can be a major factor which can affect the integration of arithmetic cognitive stimuli which, in turn, affect motor performance.