Improving Children’s Logical and Mathematical Performance via a Pragmatic Approach

Abstract

Deductive and logical reasoning is a crucial topic for cognitive psychology and has largely been investigated in adults, concluding that humans are apparently irrational. Yet, from a pragmatic approach, the logical level of meaning is only one of possible communicative interpretations, and the least likely to be assigned if the intent of the task is not adequately transmitted. Indeed, new formulations of the mathematical tasks (syllogisms, selection task, class inclusion task, problem solving) of greater relevance to the problem and to its aim, greatly improved adults' logical performance. The current study tested whether pragmatic manipulations of task instructions influenced in a similar way children's performance in deductive and logical tasks (Experiment 1) and in insight problems (Experiment 2). We found that, when task instructions were in accordance with the conversational rules of communication, 10-year-old children substantially improved their performance. We suggest that language use imposes constraints in terms of informativeness and relevance which are crucial in teaching logic and mathematics.

A Constructivist Intervention Program for the Improvement of Mathematical Performance Based on Empiric Developmental Results (PEIM)

“…When children find themselves in new situations, they must adapt to them by restructuring the surrounding context so that they can negotiate it more easily. And, usually, it is necessary that they use creativity and apply alternative or unconventional thinking to those situations ( Bagassi et al, 2020 ). By means of the implementation of a constructivist intervention, the student constructs significant learning allowing him to be more mathematically competent on a daily basis.…”

The Degree of Application of Language Activities in Autistic Children and Their Relationship in Improving Verbal Expression Skills in Special Education Centers in Jordan

“…In special education facilities, children participate in a variety of games and activities, using materials such as sand, bricks, and paper to construct and create items, giving them the chance to describe and discuss their creations (Kouklari et al, 2018). These games and activities help children develop linguistic and expressive abilities, and they have been used to increase verbal expression skills via play and language exercises (Bagassi et al, 2020). Play-based activities, such as talking about pictures, describing visual features, answering questions, and solving verbal puzzles, can help five-year-old children acquire language abilities (Makrygianni et al, 2018).…”

How the Custom Suppresses the Endowment Effect: Exchange Paradigm in Kanak Country

“…The literature on reasoning and decision making offers numerous examples in which behaviors or responses given by participants, initially judged to be erroneous, reveal a coherence with respect to the inferred representation of the participants to the requested task. These representations can be explained by the different pragmatic implicatures coming from the violations of the conversational maxims of cooperation of Grice ( 1975 ) (see Dulany and Hilton, 1991 ; Schwarz et al, 1991 ; Sperber et al, 1995 ; Baratgin and Noveck, 2000 ; Macchi, 2000 ; Politzer and Macchi, 2000 ; Baratgin, 2002 , 2009 ; Bagassi and Macchi, 2006 ; Baratgin and Politzer, 2006 , 2007 , 2010 ; Macchi and Bagassi, 2012 ; Politzer, 2016 ; Macchi et al, 2019 , 2020 ; Bagassi et al, 2020 ; Baratgin et al, 2020 , for examples). The experimental paradigms are constructed through speech acts and the gestures of the experimenter and are, as in any communication fact, pragmatic in nature (Sperber and Wilson, 1986 , 2002 ).…”