ERIC Number: EJ998909
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Feb
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-1954
EISSN: N/A
Brief Report. Educated Adults Are Still Affected by Intuitions about the Effect of Arithmetical Operations: Evidence from a Reaction-Time Study
Vamvakoussi, Xenia; Van Dooren, Wim; Verschaffel, Lieven
Educational Studies in Mathematics, v82 n2 p323-330 Feb 2013
This study tested the hypothesis that intuitions about the effect of operations, e.g., "addition makes bigger" and "division makes smaller", are still present in educated adults, even after years of instruction. To establish the intuitive character, we applied a reaction time methodology, grounded in dual process theories of reasoning. Educated adult participants were asked to judge the correctness of statements about the effect of operations. Their accuracy and reaction times were measured. For items where the correct answer was not in line with the assumed intuitions, more mistakes were observed; moreover, we found longer reaction times for correct responses, indicating that these intuitions interfere in participants' reasoning on these tasks, even when they provide a correct response.
Descriptors: Accuracy, Reaction Time, Arithmetic, Adults, Mathematics, Mathematics Instruction, Mathematics Education, Mathematical Applications, Intuition
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A