ERIC Number: EJ737571
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Apr
Pages: 20
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0361-476X
EISSN: N/A
The Effect Counting Speed Has on Developing a Reliance on Retrieval in Basic Addition
Hopkins, Sarah L.; Lawson, Michael J.
Contemporary Educational Psychology, v31 n2 p208-227 Apr 2006
The inability to develop, strengthen, and access associations in memory that allow for the rapid and accurate retrieval of answers to basic addition problems is a distinguishing characteristic of a mathematics learning difficulty. The "two-factor theory of math fact learning" (Robinson, Menchetti, & Torgesen, 2002) proposes that a weakness in semantic or phonological processing relating to number underlies such difficulty. The empirical support for this theory has been limited. In this study the basic addition performance of five adolescent students still reliant on counting was examined. A regression analysis of reaction times to counting trials revealed counting-speed to be an important factor in helping to explain why practice had not led to retrieval. The findings are discussed in terms of advancing the two-factor theory of math fact learning and implications for instruction are considered.
Descriptors: Computation, Arithmetic, Mathematics Education, Learning Problems, Adolescents, Secondary School Students, Reaction Time, Mathematics Instruction
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A