Role of inhibitory control in adults' mathematical equivalence knowledge

Previous research has shown that naïve views of math and science concepts coexist with more formal views. The current study extended this finding to the domain of mathematical equivalence and tested whether inhibitory control relates to using more formal views over naïve ones. In the current study, we report two experiments in which undergraduate students (n = 125 for Study 1 and n = 184 for Study 2) completed a priming task involving inhibitory control and math items, an inhibitory control flanker measure, and a comprehensive mathematical equivalence assessment. We found quantitative and qualitative evidence that adults hold both naïve operational views and formal relational views of equivalence across multiple measures and under timed and untimed conditions. In contrast to our hypotheses, we did not find evidence to support a strong association between individual differences in inhibitory control and mathematical equivalence knowledge. The results call into question the role of this domain-general cognitive skill in contributing to adults' expression of naïve operational thinking.