Resolution of arithmetic problems, processing speed and working memory in children

FORMOSO, JESICA; JACUBOVICH, SILVIA; INJOQUE-RICLE, IRENE; BARREYRO, JUAN PABLO

Trends in Psychology

Sociedade Brasileira de Psicologia

Lugar: Ribeirão Preto; Año: 2018 vol. 26 p. 1249 - 1266

2358-1883

This study sought to characterize the performance of children in an arithmetic word problem test regarding choice of strategy, type of operation and age. It also analyzed possible links between the resolution of addition and subtraction problems, processing speed and working memory. Four tests were administered with 233 children of 4, 5 and 6 years of age from Buenos Aires, Argentina: (a) an arithmetic word problem test, (b) the Corsi block tapping test, (c) a digit span test, and (d) a reaction time task. Results showed a significant increase in precision when solving arithmetic word problems between ages 4 and 6. While 4-year-old children relied mainly on visual aids to solve the problems, 5 and 6-year-olds incorporated finger counting and mental calculation as efficient strategies. Arithmetic scores were associated with both verbal and visuospatial working memory scores. While only the visuospatial component predicted accuracy in the children that depended on visual aids or finger counting, both components of working memory predicted the performance of the children that primarily used mental calculation.*Revista Indexada en: BVS-Psi, LATINDEX, PePSIC, LILACS, PSICODOC, CLASE, SCOPUS, Redalyc, Scielo & DOAJ.