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Transfer of training in simple addition.
Yalin Chen1, Jamie I D Campbell1
1Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)
|April 19, 2017
Summary
This study investigated if adults use counting for simple addition. Results show no evidence of counting generalization for non-tie problems, suggesting other memory strategies are used for arithmetic.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Mathematics Education
Background:
- Skilled adults may use fast counting procedures for single-digit addition.
- Practice can lead to learning transfer and faster performance on unpracticed items.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine if practice on addition problems generalizes to untrained problems, as predicted by a counting procedure model.
- To investigate the role of counting versus associative memory in solving simple addition problems.
Main Methods:
- Three experiments (N=108) involved practice blocks followed by test blocks of new addition problems.
- Participants practiced addition identity rules and non-tie problems.
- Response times (RT) were measured to assess generalization and practice effects.
Main Results:
- Addition identity rule practice showed complete transfer of RT gains.
- Addition ties exhibited RT costs for unpracticed problems but improved with repetition.
- No generalization of practice was found for small non-tie addition problems in the first test block.
Conclusions:
- The findings do not support the hypothesis that counting procedures mediate performance on small non-tie addition problems.
- Results suggest that associative memory, rather than a generalized counting procedure, underlies performance on these arithmetic tasks.
- Item-specific strengthening of memory appears to be a key mechanism for solving practiced addition problems.