Operator Priming and Generalization of Practice in Adults' Simple Arithmetic

Autor/inn/en	Chen, Yalin; Campbell, Jamie I. D.
Titel	Operator Priming and Generalization of Practice in Adults' Simple Arithmetic
Quelle	In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42 (2016) 4, S.627-635 (9 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0278-7393
DOI	10.1037/xlm0000196
Schlagwörter	Adults; Priming; Arithmetic; Addition; Individual Differences; Multiplication; Generalization; Problem Solving; Experiments; Foreign Countries; Statistical Analysis; Computation; Mathematics; Canada (Saskatoon) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Addition; Arithmetik; Arithmetikunterricht; Rechnen; Individueller Unterschied; Multiplikation; Problemlösen; Erprobung; Ausland; Statistische Analyse; Mathematik
Abstract	There is a renewed debate about whether educated adults solve simple addition problems (e.g., 2 + 3) by direct fact retrieval or by fast, automatic counting-based procedures. Recent research testing adults' simple addition and multiplication showed that a 150-ms preview of the operator (+ or ×) facilitated addition, but not multiplication, suggesting that a general addition procedure was primed by the + sign. In Experiment 1 (n = 36), we applied this operator-priming paradigm to rule-based problems (0 + N = N, 1 × N = N, 0 × N = 0) and 1 + N problems with N ranging from 0 to 9. For the rule-based problems, we found both operator-preview facilitation and generalization of practice (e.g., practicing 0 + 3 sped up unpracticed 0 + 8), the latter being a signature of procedure use; however, we also found operator-preview facilitation for 1 + N in the absence of generalization, which implies the 1 + N problems were solved by fact retrieval but nonetheless were facilitated by an operator preview. Thus, the operator preview effect does not discriminate procedure use from fact retrieval. Experiment 2 (n = 36) investigated whether a population with advanced mathematical training--engineering and computer science students--would show generalization of practice for nonrule-based simple addition problems (e.g., 1 + 4, 4 + 7). The 0 + N problems again presented generalization, whereas no nonzero problem type did; but all nonzero problems sped up when the identical problems were retested, as predicted by item-specific fact retrieval. The results pose a strong challenge to the generality of the proposal that skilled adults' simple addition is based on fast procedural algorithms, and instead support a fact-retrieval model of fast addition performance. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01