These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Preschoolers doing arithmetic: the concepts are willing but the working memory is weak.
    Author: Klein JS, Bisanz J.
    Journal: Can J Exp Psychol; 2000 Jun; 54(2):105-16. PubMed ID: 10881394.
    Abstract:
    The study of early mathematical development provides important insights into young children's emerging academic competencies and, potentially, a basis for adapting instructional methods. We presented nonverbal forms of two- and three-term arithmetic problems to 4-year-olds to determine (a) the extent to which certain information-processing demands make some problems more difficult than others and (b) whether preschoolers use arithmetic concepts spontaneously when solving novel problems. Children's accuracy on simple arithmetic problems (a + b and a - b) was strongly related (r2 = .88) to representational set size, the maximum number of units that need to be held in working memory to solve a given problem. Some children also showed spontaneous use of procedures based on the arithmetic principle of inversion when solving problems of the form a + b - b. These results highlight the importance of identifying information-processing and conceptual characteristics in the early development of mathematical cognition.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]