Generalization effects in Canadian and Chinese adults' simple addition

Recent studies proposed that skilled adults solve simple addition problems (e.g., 2 + 3 = 5) by automatic counting procedures rather than fact retrieval for memory. To pursue this, the authors tested 36 Canadian and 36 Chinese adults in an addition paradigm designed to measure generalization of practice, a potential signature of procedure use. A generalization effect in response time occurred for rule-based 0 + N problems (e.g., practicing 0 + 3 facilitated subsequent performance of 0 + 7) for both Chinese and Canadian adults. No such effect occurred for other problem types including 1 + N problems, ties (e.g., 2 + 2), small nontie (sum ≤10) or large nontie (sum >10). Thus, there was no evidence that Chinese or Canadian adults engaged a common procedural algorithm for nonzero simple addition.