Individual differences in children's strategy selection in a computational estimation task with two versus three...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Strategy selection in computational estimation is crucial for mathematical proficiency.
• Understanding factors influencing children's strategy choice, like working memory, is essential.
• Previous research has explored strategy use but less on selection influenced by strategy availability and problem type.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how the number of available strategies (two vs. three) affects children's strategy selection in computational estimation.
• To examine the role of individual differences in working memory updating on strategy selection.
• To analyze strategy selection differences based on problem type (homogeneous vs. heterogeneous).

Main Methods:

• Third and fourth graders (N=725) participated in a computational estimation strategy selection task.
• Children indicated the best strategy for two-digit addition problems under two conditions: two strategies (rounding-down, rounding-up) or three strategies (adding mixed-rounding).
• Problems were either homogeneous (unit digits both <5 or >5) or heterogeneous (one <5, one >5). Working memory updating was assessed.

Main Results:

• Children selected the optimal strategy more often when three strategies were available compared to two.
• Optimal strategy selection was more frequent for homogeneous problems than heterogeneous problems.
• Working memory updating moderated these effects: children with lower updating capacity performed worse on heterogeneous problems.

Conclusions:

• The number of available strategies and problem type significantly influence children's strategy selection in computational estimation.
• Individual differences in working memory updating capacity play a critical role in moderating these influences.
• Findings highlight the interplay between cognitive abilities, task demands, and strategy selection in mathematical problem-solving.