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Children's Strategy Choices on Complex Subtraction Problems: Individual Differences and Developmental Changes.
Sara Caviola1, Irene C Mammarella2, Massimiliano Pastore2
1Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Frontiers in Psychology
|August 2, 2018
Summary
Younger children use simpler strategies for subtraction, while older children use more efficient methods. Strategy use varies by problem complexity for all students.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- Children's strategy selection in arithmetic is crucial for developing mathematical understanding.
- Understanding developmental shifts in strategy use informs pedagogical approaches.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between grade level, problem complexity, and strategy choices in solving subtraction problems.
- To compare strategy repertoires of third and fifth graders using free-choice and discrete-choice paradigms.
Main Methods:
- Two studies involving approximately 320 third and fifth graders solving multi-digit subtraction problems.
- Analysis of children's self-reported strategies, including counting, retrieval, and decomposition.
- Implementation of both free-choice and discrete-choice strategy selection methods.
Main Results:
- Third graders favored less efficient strategies (counting) and right-to-left algorithms.
- Fifth graders more frequently employed efficient retrieval and left-to-right decomposition strategies.
- Strategy use varied with problem complexity and presentation format for both age groups.
Conclusions:
- Findings support the overlapping waves model of cognitive development.
- Detailed patterns of strategy choice in complex subtraction problems were identified.
- Developmental differences in subtraction strategy selection are evident by fifth grade.