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Multimedia Battery for Assessment of Cognitive and Basic Skills in Mathematics (BM-PROMA)
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Strategies in subtraction problem solving in children.

Pierre Barrouillet1, Mathilde Mignon, Catherine Thevenot

  • 1University of Geneva, FPSE, 1205 Genève, Switzerland. pierre.barrouillet@pse.unige.ch

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|February 5, 2008
PubMed
Summary

Third graders use fewer direct retrieval strategies for subtraction compared to addition. Subtractive fact retrieval is limited, unlike additive fact retrieval, impacting mental arithmetic development.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Educational Psychology

Background:

  • Previous research by Barrouillet and Lépine studied one-digit additions.
  • Understanding subtraction strategies is crucial for mental arithmetic development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the strategies third graders use for elementary subtraction.
  • To compare subtraction strategies with those used for addition.
  • To examine the relationship between working memory and strategy choice in subtraction.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of strategy choices and response times in third graders solving 81 elementary subtractions.
  • Comparison of subtraction strategies with previously studied addition strategies.
  • Examination of individual differences in working memory.

Main Results:

  • Direct retrieval was less frequent in subtraction than addition.
  • Recourse to the corresponding additive fact was more common than direct retrieval for subtraction.
  • Retrieval of subtractive answers was limited to specific problem types (e.g., involving 1 as subtrahend or remainder).

Conclusions:

  • Subtraction and addition employ different retrieval strategies.
  • Working memory's influence on strategy choice shows similarities but also differences between operations.
  • Findings have implications for developmental theories of mental arithmetic.