Arithmetic Word Problems Revisited: Cognitive Processes and Academic Performance in Secondary School

Solving arithmetic word problems is a complex task that requires individuals to activate their working memory resources, as well as the correct performance of the underlying executive processes involved in order to inhibit semantic biases or superficial responses caused by the problem’s statement. T...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Duque de Blas, Gonzalo, Gómez Veiga, Isabel, García Madruga, Juan Antonio
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Recursos:Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
Repositorio:e-spacio. Repositorio Institucional de la UNED
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:e-spacio.uned.es:20.500.14468/30991
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14468/30991
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:6102.01 Psicología evolutiva
arithmetic word problems
reading comprehension
reasoning
academic performance
secondary school
Descrição
Resumo:Solving arithmetic word problems is a complex task that requires individuals to activate their working memory resources, as well as the correct performance of the underlying executive processes involved in order to inhibit semantic biases or superficial responses caused by the problem’s statement. This paper describes a study carried out with 135 students of Secondary Obligatory Education, each of whom solved 5 verbal arithmetic problems: 2 consistent problems, whose mathematical operation (add/subtract) and the verbal statement of the problem coincide, and 3 inconsistent problems, whose required operation is the inverse of the one suggested by the verbal term(s). Measures of reading comprehension, visual–spatial reasoning and deductive reasoning were also obtained. The results show the relationship between arithmetic problems and cognitive measures, as well as the ability of these problems to predict academic performance. Regression analyses confirmed that arithmetic word problems were the only measure with significant power of association with academic achievement in both History/Geography (β = 0.25) and Mathematics (β = 0.23).