Seeing Is Believing: Task-Exposure Specificity and the Development of Mathematics Self-Efficacy Evaluations

Abstract

We examine the relevance of task exposure specificity in the development of self-efficacy evaluations among 15-year-old students in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. We use data from the 2012 edition of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to assess if students’ self-efficacy evaluations with respect to a set of mathematics tasks are associated with how frequently they encountered those same tasks or tasks requiring them to apply similar processes or procedures. We find evidence of task exposure specificity in the development of self-efficacy evaluations toward both applied and pure mathematics problems. The relationship between task exposure and self-efficacy evaluations is not moderated by students’ socioeconomic status (SES) or anxiety toward mathematics. Exposure to easy items appears to be more strongly associated with the development of self-efficacy among high achieving students and exposure to pure mathematics problems is more strongly associated with the development of self-efficacy among girls.