How does the brain represent number and make mathematical calculations? What underlies
the development of numerical and mathematical abilities? What factors affect the learning of …

In The Tree of Knowledge, biologists Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela (1987)
analyze the biological foundations of human cognition. A crucial component of their …

Arithmetic is still hugely important in many aspects of modern life, but our personal attitudes
to it differ greatly. Many people struggle with the basic principles of arithmetic, whilst others …

Comparing and contrasting examples is a core cognitive process that supports learning in
children and adults across a variety of topics. In this experimental study, we evaluated the …

Four experiments document adults' age-related changes in computational estimation
performance and in adaptivity of strategy choices (ie, the ability to choose the most precise …

The involvement of working memory (WM) was examined in two types of mental calculation
tasks: exact and approximate. Specifically, children attending Grades 3 and 4 of primary …

Three experiments tested whether switching between strategies involves a cost. In three
experiments, participants had to give approximate products to two-digit multiplication …

Background Too many students persevere in relying upon one (sometimes suboptimal)
strategy for solving a wide range of problems, even when they know more efficient …

We investigated strategies used to estimate answers to addition problems. Two hundred and
sixteen participants (72 adults, 72 sixth graders, and 72 fourth graders) had to provide …

Third, fifth, and seventh graders selected the best strategy (rounding up or rounding down)
for estimating answers to two-digit addition problems. Executive function measures were …