Behavioral equivalence, but not neural equivalence—neural evidence of alternative strategies in mathematical thinking

Sohn, Myeong Ho; Goode, Adam; Koedinger, Kenneth R.; Stenger, V. Andrew; Fissell, Kate; Carter, Cameron S.; Anderson, John R.

doi:10.1038/nn1337

Cited by 59 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…A later study (Qin et al, 2004) used the same kinds of equations with ten 12-to 15-year-old students and found brain activity similar to adults. Sohn et al (2004) examined brain areas associated with representing functions in different formats. Participants memorised functions in either verbal or algebraic formats.…”

Section: Learning From Neuroimaging Studies On Mathematicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence from cognitive neuroscience for the role of graphical and algebraic representations in understanding function

Thomas

Wilson

Corballis

et al. 2010

ZDM Mathematics Education

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Using traditional educational research methods, it is difficult to assess students' understanding of mathematical concepts, even though qualitative methods such as task observation and interviews provide some useful information. It has now become possible to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to observe brain activity whilst students think about mathematics, although much of this work has concentrated on number. In this study, we used fMRI to examine brain activity whilst ten university students translated between graphical and algebraic formats of both linear and quadratic mathematical functions. Consistent with previous studies on the representation of number, this task elicited activity in the intra-parietal sulcus, as well as in the inferior frontal gyrus. We also analysed qualitative data on participants' introspection of strategies employed when reasoning about function. Expert participants focused more on key properties of functions when translating between formats than did novices. Implications for the teaching and learning of functions are discussed, including the relationship of function properties to difficulties in conversion from algebraic to graphical representation systems and vice versa, the desirability of teachers focusing attention on function properties, and the importance of integrating graphical and algebraic function instruction.

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Section: Learning From Neuroimaging Studies On Mathematicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence from cognitive neuroscience for the role of graphical and algebraic representations in understanding function

Thomas

Wilson

Corballis

et al. 2010

ZDM Mathematics Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although not an arithmetic task, algebra problems solved with a verbal strategy had strong prefrontal activity but little parietal activity, whereas the same problems that were solved using an equation-based strategy showed the opposite pattern (Sohn et al, 2004). In these cases, qualitatively different strategies resulted in different loci of cortical activity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 92%

Neural correlates of arithmetic calculation strategies

Rosenberg‐Lee

Lovett

Anderson

2009

Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience

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“…A few neuroimaging studies examined algebraic transformations (Danker and Anderson, 2007;Qin et al, 2003;Sohn et al, 2004) and concluded to a specific role of bilateral posterior parietal cortex, rather than perisylvian language areas, in the mental displacement of the constituents needed to resolve equations such as 19 − 7x = 5 (e.g. bring 7x to the right side, etc.).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%