Effects of problem size and arithmetic operation on brain activation during calculation in children with varying levels of arithmetical fluency

Smedt, Bert De; Holloway, Ian D.; Ansari, Daniel

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.12.037

Cited by 177 publications

(241 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Thus, the functional maturity of the neural substrates for numerical magnitude processing appears to serve as a foundation for early arithmetic learning. The present results, however, in concert with previous findings (De Smedt et al, 2011), demonstrate that while such quantity processing mechanisms may have an important role in the development of elementary arithmetic skills, individuals who continue to rely upon them into adolescence and beyond achieve poorer mathematical competence than their peers who do not. Migration away from quantity-based calculation strategies appears essential for the development of mathematical competence beyond simple arithmetic.…”

Section: Developmental Scaffoldingsupporting

confidence: 79%

Why Mental Arithmetic Counts: Brain Activation during Single Digit Arithmetic Predicts High School Math Scores

2013

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Do individual differences in the brain mechanisms for arithmetic underlie variability in high school mathematical competence? Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we correlated brain responses to single digit calculation with standard scores on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) math subtest in high school seniors. PSAT math scores, while controlling for PSAT Critical Reading scores, correlated positively with calculation activation in the left supramarginal gyrus and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, brain regions known to be engaged during arithmetic fact retrieval. At the same time, greater activation in the right intraparietal sulcus during calculation, a region established to be involved in numerical quantity processing, was related to lower PSAT math scores. These data reveal that the relative engagement of brain mechanisms associated with procedural versus memory-based calculation of single-digit arithmetic problems is related to high school level mathematical competence, highlighting the fundamental role that mental arithmetic fluency plays in the acquisition of higher-level mathematical competence.

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Section: Developmental Scaffoldingsupporting

confidence: 79%

Why Mental Arithmetic Counts: Brain Activation during Single Digit Arithmetic Predicts High School Math Scores

2013

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“…Our findings of hippocampal volume as a significant predictor of posttutoring gains are, however, consistent with emerging evidence from developmental studies, suggesting that during critical stages of arithmetic knowledge acquisition children rely more on hippocampus-based declarative memory systems for fact retrieval. Thus, for example, children show greater activation of the hippocampal memory system compared with adults (21,33), and Cho and colleagues recently reported differential recruitment of the right hippocampus in relation to greater use of retrieval strategies during arithmetic problem solving (23). However, as with previous studies in adults, this study of early development has relied on cross-sectional and correlational approaches.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Neural predictors of individual differences in response to math tutoring in primary-grade school children

Supekar¹,

Swigart²,

Tenison³

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

227

251

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Now, more than ever, the ability to acquire mathematical skills efficiently is critical for academic and professional success, yet little is known about the behavioral and neural mechanisms that drive some children to acquire these skills faster than others. Here we investigate the behavioral and neural predictors of individual differences in arithmetic skill acquisition in response to 8-wk of one-to-one math tutoring. Twenty-four children in grade 3 (ages 8-9 y), a critical period for acquisition of basic mathematical skills, underwent structural and resting-state functional MRI scans pretutoring. A significant shift in arithmetic problem-solving strategies from counting to fact retrieval was observed with tutoring. Notably, the speed and accuracy of arithmetic problem solving increased with tutoring, with some children improving significantly more than others. Next, we examined whether pretutoring behavioral and brain measures could predict individual differences in arithmetic performance improvements with tutoring. No behavioral measures, including intelligence quotient, working memory, or mathematical abilities, predicted performance improvements. In contrast, pretutoring hippocampal volume predicted performance improvements. Furthermore, pretutoring intrinsic functional connectivity of the hippocampus with dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices and the basal ganglia also predicted performance improvements. Our findings provide evidence that individual differences in morphometry and connectivity of brain regions associated with learning and memory, and not regions typically involved in arithmetic processing, are strong predictors of responsiveness to math tutoring in children. More generally, our study suggests that quantitative measures of brain structure and intrinsic brain organization can provide a more sensitive marker of skill acquisition than behavioral measures. math learning | intervention | prediction | multimodal neuroimaging | educational neuroscience

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“…Here, we based our current experiment on previous work in complex arithmetic that showed that both adults and children had poorer performance on harder than on easier problems, whether difficulty of problems was defined on the basis of the size of operands, on involving carryover, or both (e.g., De Smedt, Holloway, & Ansari, 2011;Geary, Cormier, Goggin, Estrada, & Lunn, 1993;Geary, Widaman, Little, & Cormier, 1987;Green, Lemaire, & Dufau, 2007;Hodzik & Lemaire, 2011;Lemaire & Arnaud, 2008;Lemaire & Calliès, 2009;Widaman, Geary, Cormier, & Little, 1989). The present work aimed at replicating such problem difficulty effects on children's performance in complex arithmetic and at testing interactions of problem difficulty with other variables (i.e., children's age and strategies).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Age-related changes in children’s strategies for solving two-digit addition problems

Lemaire

Brun

2018

J. Numer. Cogn.

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The present study investigated how elementary-school children solve two-digit addition problems (e.g., 34+68). To achieve this end, we examined age-related differences in children's strategy use and strategy performance. Results showed that (a) both third and fifth graders used a set of 9 strategies, (b) fifth-grade individuals used more strategies than third-grade individuals, (c) age-related differences in the size of strategy repertoire was partially explained by age-related differences in basic arithmetic fluency, (d) how often children used each available strategy changed with problem difficulty and children's age, as younger children tended to focus more on one or two strategies and older children used a wider range of strategies, (e) increased arithmetic performance with age varied with problem difficulty both when overall performance was analyzed and when analyses of performance was restricted to children's favorite strategy. The present findings have important implications for our understanding of how complex arithmetic performance changes with children's age and change mechanisms underlying improved performance with age in complex arithmetic.

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Effects of problem size and arithmetic operation on brain activation during calculation in children with varying levels of arithmetical fluency

Cited by 177 publications

References 51 publications

Why Mental Arithmetic Counts: Brain Activation during Single Digit Arithmetic Predicts High School Math Scores

Why Mental Arithmetic Counts: Brain Activation during Single Digit Arithmetic Predicts High School Math Scores

Neural predictors of individual differences in response to math tutoring in primary-grade school children

Age-related changes in children’s strategies for solving two-digit addition problems

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