Can't help processing numbers with text: Eye-tracking evidence for simultaneous instead of sequential processing of...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Solving arithmetic word problems involves text and number processing.
• The timing of number processing relative to text processing is unclear.
• Sequential vs. interactive models of problem-solving exist.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether number processing occurs simultaneously with text processing during arithmetic word problem solving.
• To test the hypothesis that number processing is an early and simultaneous process.

Main Methods:

• Used eye-tracking to measure attention to numbers and text in 63 adults.
• Created non-solvable word problems with manipulated calculation difficulty (carry/borrow vs. non-carry/non-borrow).
• Analyzed static (fixations, regressions) and dynamic (transitions) eye-tracking measures, response times, and error rates.

Main Results:

• Found significant interactions between calculation difficulty and operation for all eye-tracking measures, response times, and error rates.
• Observed evidence of number processing even in non-solvable problems.
• Attention to numbers was higher for carry/borrow operations compared to non-carry/non-borrow operations.

Conclusions:

• Number processing occurs simultaneously with text processing in arithmetic word problems.
• Findings are inconsistent with strictly sequential models of problem-solving.
• Supports an interactive model where numerical information is processed early in the problem-solving sequence.