Pathways to arithmetic fact retrieval and percentage calculation in adolescents

Developing sufficient mathematical skills is a prerequisite to function adequately in society today. Given this, an important task is to increase our understanding regarding the cognitive mechanisms underlying young people's acquisition of early number skills and formal mathematical knowledge.

The purpose was to examine whether the pathways to mathematics model provides a valid account of the cognitive mechanisms underlying symbolic-number processing and mathematics in adolescents. The pathways model states that the three pathways should provide independent support to symbolic-number skill. Each pathway's unique contribution to formal mathematics varies depending on the complexity and demand of the tasks.

The study used a sample of 114 adolescents (71 girls). Their mean age was 14.60 years (SD = 1.00).

The adolescents were assessed on tests tapping the three pathways and general cognitive abilities (e.g., working memory). A structural equation path analysis was computed.

Symbolic-number comparison was predicted by the linguistic pathway, the quantitative pathway, and processing speed. The linguistic pathway, quantitative pathways, and symbolic-number comparison predicted arithmetic fact retrieval. The linguistic pathway, working memory, visual analogies, and symbolic-number comparison predicted percentage calculation.

There are both similarities and differences in the cognitive mechanisms underlying arithmetic fact retrieval and percentage calculation in adolescents. Adolescents' symbolic-number processing, arithmetic fact retrieval, and percentage calculation continue to rely on the linguistic pathways, whereas the reliance upon the spatial pathway has ceased. The reliance upon the quantitative pathway varies depending on the task.