A Longitudinal Study of Gender Differences in Young Children’s Mathematical Thinking

Fennema, Élizabeth; Carpenter, Thomas P.; Jacobs, Victoria R.; Franke, Megan L.; Levi, Linda

doi:10.3102/0013189x027005006

Cited by 126 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…When solving multiplication problems, men more frequently used retrieval than did women, an effect observed earlier (see, e.g., Carr & Jessup, 1997;Carr et al, 1999;Fennema, Carpenter, Jacobs, Franke, & Levi, 1998;Geary et al, 2000). We also observed more efficient retrieval use in men than in women, which confirms the hypothesis that gender differences in mental arithmetic are due to the fact that retrieval use is faster in men than in women (Royer et al, 1999).…”

Section: The Impact Of Individual Differencessupporting

confidence: 78%

Do multiplication and division strategies rely on executive and phonological working memory resources?

Imbo

Vandierendonck

2007

Memory & Cognition

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Working memory is a system devoted to short-term storage and processing and is used in various cognitive tasks, such as reading, reasoning, and mental arithmetic. Throughout the past decennium, research into the role of working memory in mental arithmetic has flourished (for a review, see DeStefano & LeFevre, 2004) and has shown that solving both simple arithmetic problems (e.g., 8 5, 3 9) and complex arithmetic problems (e.g., 23 98, 12 35) relies on working memory resources. The present study further investigates the role of working memory in simple-arithmetic strategies, on the basis of the multicomponent working memory model of Baddeley and Hitch (1974). In this model, there is an attentional system (the central executive) that supervises a phonological subsystem and a visuospatial subsystem. The phonological subsystem guarantees short-term maintenance of phonological information, and the visuospatial subsystem guarantees short-term maintenance of visuospatial information.The role of executive working memory resources in simple arithmetic has been shown extensively (see, e.g., Ashcraft, 1995;De Rammelaere, Stuyven, & Vandierendonck, 1999Deschuyteneer & Vandierendonck, 2005a, 2005bDeschuyteneer, Vandierendonck, & Muyllaert, 2006;Hecht, 2002;Lemaire, Abdi, & Fayol, 1996;Seitz & Schumann-Hengsteler, 2000. The role of phonological working memory resources in simple arithmetic is less clear. In some studies, an effect of phonological load on simple-arithmetic problem solving was observed (see, e.g., Lee & Kang, 2002;Lemaire et al., 1996;Seitz & Schumann-Hengsteler, 2002), whereas, in other studies, it was not (see, e.g., De Rammelaere et al., 1999Seitz & Schumann-Hengsteler, 2000). Investigations of the role of the visuospatial "sketch pad" in simple arithmetic are scarce (but see Lee & Kang, 2002;Seitz & Schumann-Hengsteler, 2000), and the findings in the few studies conducted are equivocal.A drawback of all the studies mentioned above, however, is that none of them showed any distinction between retrieval and nonretrieval trials. Yet it has been shown that adults use several strategies to solve even the simplest arithmetic problems (see, e.g., Hecht, 1999;. For instance, although direct memory retrieval (i.e., knowing that 3 4 12) is the most frequently used strategy, nonretrieval strategies (or procedural strategies) are used as well. Examples of such procedural strategies are transformation (e.g., 96 (10 6) 6 60 6 54) and counting (e.g., 4 7 7 . . . 14 . . . 21 . . . 28). The studies mentioned above notwithstanding, it is impossible to discern the specific simple-arithmetic strategies in which executive and phonological working memory resources are needed.Investigations of the roles of executive and phonological working memory across different simple-arithmetic strategies have only very recently been conducted, beginning with Hecht (2002). In his study, simple addition equa- 1759Copyright 2007 Psychonomic Society, Inc. Do multiplication and division strategies rely on executive and phonological working memory...

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Section: The Impact Of Individual Differencessupporting

confidence: 78%

Do multiplication and division strategies rely on executive and phonological working memory resources?

Imbo

Vandierendonck

2007

Memory & Cognition

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“…In these studies, sex differences, favoring males, have been found for children's and young adults' strategic approaches to solving arithmetic problems and in the speed of executing some of the underlying component processes (Carr & Jessup, 1997;Carr et al, 1999;Fennema et al, 1998;Geary et al, 1993). The results are, however, inconsistent with Hyde et al's (1990) meta-analytic finding of no sex difference in computational abilities for 15-to 18-year-olds and a female advantage through early adolescence.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

“…Other studies of elementary-school children suggest no sex difference in overall arithmetical performance, but sex differences in problem-solving approaches are often found (Carr & Jessup, 1997;Carr, Jessup, & Fuller, 1999;Fennema, Carpenter, Jacobs, Franke, & Levi, 1998; but see Siegler, 1988). In these studies, boys used direct retrieval and covert strategies (e.g., mental counting) more often than girls did and girls used finger counting and overt strategies (e.g., blocks) more often than boys did.…”

mentioning

confidence: 82%

“…If the Royer et al findings are replicated, then follow-up studies with children and adolescents would be warranted, although, in any such studies, the assessment of sex differences in computational fluency should focus on strategy choice and speed of processing differences. This is because sex differences on paper-and-pencil computational tests are not always evident for adolescents and children (Carr & Jessup, 1997;Carr et al, 1999;Fennema et al, 1998). In any case, before such studies are conducted, an attempt to replicate Royer et al's most robust finding seems wise.…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

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Sex Differences in Spatial Cognition, Computational Fluency, and Arithmetical Reasoning

Geary

Saults

Fan

et al. 2000

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

234

141

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Alternative explanations for the male advantage in arithmetical reasoning, as measured by the ability to solve complex word problems, include a male advantage in spatial cognition and a male advantage in computational fluency. The current study was designed to test these competing hypotheses. To this end, 113 male and 123 female undergraduates were administered arithmetical computations and arithmetical reasoning tests, along with an IQ test and a test of spatial cognition. There was no sex difference on the IQ test, but males showed significantly higher mean scores on the arithmetical computations, arithmetical reasoning, and spatial cognition measures. A series of structural equation models indicated that individual differences in arithmetical reasoning were related to individual differences in IQ, spatial abilities, and computational fluency. Moreover, the results suggested that the male advantage in arithmetical reasoning is mediated by the male advantages in both computational fluency and spatial cognition.

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“…More speciWcally, direct memory retrieval is chosen more frequently by boys, whereas nonretrieval strategies are chosen more frequently by girls (Carr, 1996;Carr & Jessup, 1997;Davis & Carr, 2002). With respect to strategy eYciency, gender diVerences exist as well in that boys are faster than girls in executing computational processes (Carr & Jessup, 1997;Carr, Jessup, & Fuller, 1999;Fennema, Carpenter, Jacobs, Franke, & Levi, 1998;Geary, Bow-Thomas, Fan, & Siegler, 1993;Geary, Saults, Liu, & Hoard, 2000) and, more speciWcally, in direct memory retrieval (Royer, Tronsky, Chan, Jackson, & Marchant, 1999). Based on these previous results, we expected more frequent and more eYcient retrieval use in boys than in girls.…”

Section: Gendermentioning

confidence: 53%

The development of strategy use in elementary school children: Working memory and individual differences

Imbo¹,

Vandierendonck²

2007

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

197

172

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The current study tested the development of working memory involvement in children's arithmetic strategy selection and strategy eYciency. To this end, an experiment in which the dual-task method and the choice/no-choice method were combined was administered to 10-to 12-year-olds. Working memory was needed in retrieval, transformation, and counting strategies, but the ratio between available working memory resources and arithmetic task demands changed across development. More frequent retrieval use, more eYcient memory retrieval, and more eYcient counting processes reduced the working memory requirements. Strategy eYciency and strategy selection were also modiWed by individual diVerences such as processing speed, arithmetic skill, gender, and math anxiety. Short-term memory capacity, in contrast, was not related to children's strategy selection or strategy eYciency.

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A Longitudinal Study of Gender Differences in Young Children’s Mathematical Thinking

Cited by 126 publications

References 10 publications

Do multiplication and division strategies rely on executive and phonological working memory resources?

Do multiplication and division strategies rely on executive and phonological working memory resources?

Sex Differences in Spatial Cognition, Computational Fluency, and Arithmetical Reasoning

The development of strategy use in elementary school children: Working memory and individual differences

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