The role of phonological and visual working memory in complex arithmetic for Chinese- and Canadian-educated adults

Two experiments were conducted to test cultural differences in the role of phonological and visual working memory in complex arithmetic. Canadian- and Chinese-educated students solved complex subtraction problems (e.g., 85 - 27; Experiment 1) and complex multiplication problems (e.g., 6 x 13; Experiment 2) under phonological and visual working memory loads. Problem complexity (i.e., borrow or carry operations) and presentation format (i.e., horizontal vs. vertical) were also manipulated. The results showed that both Chinese- and Canadian-educated participants relied on both phonological and visual working memory resources when solving complex subtraction and multiplication problems. Selective involvement of phonological and visual working memory as a function of operation (Lee & Kang, 2002) or presentation format (Trbovich & LeFevre, 2003) was found only for Chinese-educated participants and not for Canadian-educated participants, calling into question the generalizability of these findings across arithmetic operations and cultural groups.