Development of arithmetic across the lifespan: A Registered Report

Abstract

Arithmetic skills are needed at any age. In everyday life, children to older adults calculate and deal with numbers. The processes underlying arithmetic seem to change with age. From childhood to young adulthood, children get better in domain-specific numerical skills such as place-value processing. From younger to older adulthood, domain-general cognitive skills such as working memory decline. These skills are needed for complex arithmetic such as addition with carrying and subtraction with borrowing. This study investigates how the domain-specific (number magnitude, place-value processing) and domain-general (working memory, processing speed, inhibition) processes of arithmetic change across the lifespan. Thereby, arithmetic effects (carry and borrow effects), numerical effects (distance and compatibility effects), and cognitive skills will be assessed in children, younger and older adolescents, and younger, middle-aged and older adults. The results of this registered report will help us to understand arithmetic development and its underlying processes over the lifespan.