Cargando…

Children's Strategy Choices on Complex Subtraction Problems: Individual Differences and Developmental Changes

We examined how children's strategy choices in solving complex subtraction problems are related to grade and to variations in problem complexity. In two studies, third- and fifth-grade children (N≈160 each study) solved multi-digit subtraction problems (e.g., 34–18) and described their solution...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Caviola, Sara, Mammarella, Irene C., Pastore, Massimiliano, LeFevre, Jo-Anne
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6057409/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30065686
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01209
_version_ 1783341520763486208
author Caviola, Sara
Mammarella, Irene C.
Pastore, Massimiliano
LeFevre, Jo-Anne
author_facet Caviola, Sara
Mammarella, Irene C.
Pastore, Massimiliano
LeFevre, Jo-Anne
author_sort Caviola, Sara
collection PubMed
description We examined how children's strategy choices in solving complex subtraction problems are related to grade and to variations in problem complexity. In two studies, third- and fifth-grade children (N≈160 each study) solved multi-digit subtraction problems (e.g., 34–18) and described their solution strategies. In the first experiment, strategy selection was investigated by means of a free-choice paradigm, whereas in the second study a discrete-choice approach was implemented. In both experiments, analyses of strategy repertoire indicated that third-grade children were more likely to report less-efficient strategies (i.e., counting) and relied more on the right-to-left solution algorithm compared to fifth-grade children who more often used efficient memory-based retrieval and conceptually-based left-to-right (i.e., decomposition) strategies. Nevertheless, all strategies were reported or selected by both older and younger children and strategy use varied with problem complexity and presentation format for both age groups. These results supported the overlapping waves model of strategy development and provide detailed information about patterns of strategy choice on complex subtraction problems.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6057409
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2018
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-60574092018-07-31 Children's Strategy Choices on Complex Subtraction Problems: Individual Differences and Developmental Changes Caviola, Sara Mammarella, Irene C. Pastore, Massimiliano LeFevre, Jo-Anne Front Psychol Psychology We examined how children's strategy choices in solving complex subtraction problems are related to grade and to variations in problem complexity. In two studies, third- and fifth-grade children (N≈160 each study) solved multi-digit subtraction problems (e.g., 34–18) and described their solution strategies. In the first experiment, strategy selection was investigated by means of a free-choice paradigm, whereas in the second study a discrete-choice approach was implemented. In both experiments, analyses of strategy repertoire indicated that third-grade children were more likely to report less-efficient strategies (i.e., counting) and relied more on the right-to-left solution algorithm compared to fifth-grade children who more often used efficient memory-based retrieval and conceptually-based left-to-right (i.e., decomposition) strategies. Nevertheless, all strategies were reported or selected by both older and younger children and strategy use varied with problem complexity and presentation format for both age groups. These results supported the overlapping waves model of strategy development and provide detailed information about patterns of strategy choice on complex subtraction problems. Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-07-17 /pmc/articles/PMC6057409/ /pubmed/30065686 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01209 Text en Copyright © 2018 Caviola, Mammarella, Pastore and LeFevre. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Caviola, Sara
Mammarella, Irene C.
Pastore, Massimiliano
LeFevre, Jo-Anne
Children's Strategy Choices on Complex Subtraction Problems: Individual Differences and Developmental Changes
title Children's Strategy Choices on Complex Subtraction Problems: Individual Differences and Developmental Changes
title_full Children's Strategy Choices on Complex Subtraction Problems: Individual Differences and Developmental Changes
title_fullStr Children's Strategy Choices on Complex Subtraction Problems: Individual Differences and Developmental Changes
title_full_unstemmed Children's Strategy Choices on Complex Subtraction Problems: Individual Differences and Developmental Changes
title_short Children's Strategy Choices on Complex Subtraction Problems: Individual Differences and Developmental Changes
title_sort children's strategy choices on complex subtraction problems: individual differences and developmental changes
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6057409/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30065686
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01209
work_keys_str_mv AT caviolasara childrensstrategychoicesoncomplexsubtractionproblemsindividualdifferencesanddevelopmentalchanges
AT mammarellairenec childrensstrategychoicesoncomplexsubtractionproblemsindividualdifferencesanddevelopmentalchanges
AT pastoremassimiliano childrensstrategychoicesoncomplexsubtractionproblemsindividualdifferencesanddevelopmentalchanges
AT lefevrejoanne childrensstrategychoicesoncomplexsubtractionproblemsindividualdifferencesanddevelopmentalchanges