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Operand-order effects in single-digit multiplication and addition among Chinese-educated adults
Shuyuan Yu1, Chaoyue Zhao2, Jo-Anne LeFevre1
1Department of Cognitive Science, Carleton University.
None:
Is learning history preserved in the mental representation of simple arithmetic facts? We compared addition and multiplication of Chinese-educated students to address this question. Chinese-educated students learn to memorize multiplication problems in the min × max order (e.g., 6 × 8, referred to as min-first). In contrast, for addition, they are taught to decompose the smaller digit to make 10 (e.g., 8 + 6 = 8 + 2 + 4). We hypothesized that these learning experiences would be reflected in the preferred order of operands, that is, min-first for multiplication and max-first for addition. Forty-three Chinese-educated participants solved single-digit multiplication and addition problems. As anticipated, participants responded faster when addition and multiplication were presented in their preferred orders. One implication of this research is that experiences during training can be designed to enhance arithmetic fluency. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
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