Larger numerical values shift adults' solving strategy from the grouping algorithm to the more economical sequential algorithm¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · theoreticalr3·q2
Currency · newest study 2020 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Participants used the grouping algorithm x − (y + z) with small values but switched to the sequential strategy (x − y) − z when larger values made the grouping algorithm too cognitively costly. → Hippolyte Gros 2020
Evidence¶
Hippolyte Gros 2020¶
Hippolyte Gros, Jean-Pierre Thibaut, Emmanuel Sander. (2020). Semantic Congruence in Arithmetic: A New Conceptual Model for Word Problem Solving. Educational Psychologist. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2019.1691004
q2 · i? · theoretical · r3
The article reports, citing Thevenot and Oakhill (2005), an experiment using an operand-recognition paradigm in which recognition performance indicated whether numbers were still held in working memory. Strategy choice depended on value size; no effect size is printed.
"participants used the grouping algorithm “x − (y + z)” when the task was not especially demanding due to the problem’s values being small, whereas they used the more economical sequential strategy “(x − y) − z” when the use of larger values implied that the task had higher cognitive costs."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Training on the deep structure of problems increases 4th and 5th graders' use of the shorter 1-step algorithm on unordered-entity problems
- A superordinate structuring term such as “bouquet” increases use of the factorization algorithm in isomorphic multiplication problems
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
number-size-shifts-solving-strategy |
title |
Larger numerical values shift adults' solving strategy from the grouping algorithm to the more economical sequential algorithm |
description |
Larger numerical values shift adults' solving strategy from the grouping algorithm to the more economical sequential algorithm |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
weak |
newest_evidence |
2020 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-22 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — hippolyte-gros-2020 |
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