Working Memory and Children's Mental Addition

Adams, Joanne B.; Hitch, Graham J.

doi:10.1006/jecp.1997.2397

Cited by 150 publications

(132 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Working memory has also been related to strategy eYciency. Adams and Hitch (1997) observed faster arithmetic performance in children with higher working-memory spans. Since no strategy reports were obtained, it is not clear whether working-memory span was correlated with both retrieval and procedural eYciency.…”

Section: Evects Of Operation On Arithmetic Strategy Usementioning

confidence: 86%

Effects of problem size, operation, and working-memory span on simple-arithmetic strategies: differences between children and adults?

Imbo

Vandierendonck

2007

Psychological Research

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Adult's simple-arithmetic strategy use depends on problem-related characteristics, such as problem size and operation, and on individual-diVerence variables, such as working-memory span. The current study investigates (a) whether the eVects of problem size, operation, and working-memory span on children's simple-arithmetic strategy use are equal to those observed in adults, and (b) how these eVects emerge and change across age. To this end, simple-arithmetic performance measures and a working-memory span measure were obtained from 8-year-old, 10-year-old, and 12-year-old children. Results showed that the problem-size eVect in children results from the same strategic performance diVerences as in adults (i.e., sizerelated diVerences in strategy selection, retrieval eYciency, and procedural eYciency). Operation-related eVects in children were equal to those observed in adults as well, with more frequent retrieval use on multiplication, more eYcient strategy execution in addition, and more pronounced changes in multiplication. Finally, the advantage of having a large working-memory span was also present in children. The diVerences and similarities across children's and adult's strategic performance and the relevance of arithmetic models are discussed.

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Section: Evects Of Operation On Arithmetic Strategy Usementioning

confidence: 86%

Effects of problem size, operation, and working-memory span on simple-arithmetic strategies: differences between children and adults?

Imbo

Vandierendonck

2007

Psychological Research

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“…This secondary task aVected addition speed most profoundly in second graders and much less so in fourth and sixth graders, indicating that computational eYciency increases with increasing grade level. Finally, Adams and Hitch (1997) did not use the dual-task method but rather manipulated the presentation format of addition problems (i.e., oral vs. visual presentation). The visual presentation provided an external record of the addends that reduced working memory load.…”

Section: The Role Of Working Memory In Children's Arithmetic Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…Previous research has established that individual and group differences in mathematics achievement are related to WM capacity (Adams & Hitch, 1997;Bull, Johnston, & Roy, 1999;Geary, Hoard, Byrd-Craven, & DeSoto, 2004;McLean & Hitch, 1999;Swanson, 1993;Swanson, 2006;Swanson & Sachse-Lee, 2001); Barrouillet and Lepine (2005) found that 3 rd and 4 th grade children with high WM capacity, as determined by dot-counting and reading letter span tasks, retrieved answers to simple addition questions (e.g. 3+4=7) significantly more frequently and more quickly than did children with low WM capacities.…”

Section: Strategy Use and Working Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Standardized Assessment of Strategy Use and Working Memory in Early Mental Arithmetic Performance

Meyer

Maeda

et al. 2008

Developmental Neuropsychology

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Although children's use of a variety of strategies to solve arithmetic problems has been well documented, there is no agreed upon standardized and validated method for assessing this mix. We examined the convergent validity of typically achieving (TA, n = 39) and low achieving (LA, n = 20) 2 nd and 3 rd grade children's strategy choices in simple addition using three different methods: child self-report, observer-report, and response time (RT). The high concordance between child and observer reports (Kappa = .948) in both groups suggests that the participants were aware of, and could accurately report, the strategies they used. The Receiver-Operator Characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that RT accurately differentiated between retrieval and counting (AUC = 82%). The specificity and sensitivity of the ROC profiles were significantly greater for the TA group than for LA group, even though the groups did not differ in the overall strategy mix. Our findings suggest that ROC analysis is more sensitive to group differences in the mechanisms governing strategy choice than observation or child report. Children's use of retrieval strategies as well as accuracy during both retrieval and counting trials were all related to the central executive, but not the phonological and visuospatial sketchpad, component of working memory. We discuss the implication of these findings for early mathematical learning.

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Working Memory and Children's Mental Addition

Cited by 150 publications

References 33 publications

Effects of problem size, operation, and working-memory span on simple-arithmetic strategies: differences between children and adults?

Effects of problem size, operation, and working-memory span on simple-arithmetic strategies: differences between children and adults?

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

Standardized Assessment of Strategy Use and Working Memory in Early Mental Arithmetic Performance

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