Abstract
Solving arithmetic word problems is a complex task that requires individuals to activate their working memory resources, as well as the correct performance of the underlying executive processes involved in order to inhibit semantic biases or superficial responses caused by the problem’s statement. This paper describes a study carried out with 135 students of Secondary Obligatory Education, each of whom solved 5 verbal arithmetic problems: 2 consistent problems, whose mathematical operation (add/subtract) and the verbal statement of the problem coincide, and 3 inconsistent problems, whose required operation is the inverse of the one suggested by the verbal term(s). Measures of reading comprehension, visual–spatial reasoning and deductive reasoning were also obtained. The results show the relationship between arithmetic problems and cognitive measures, as well as the ability of these problems to predict academic performance. Regression analyses confirmed that arithmetic word problems were the only measure with significant power of association with academic achievement in both History/Geography (β = 0.25) and Mathematics (β = 0.23).
Highlights
The present paper addresses the relationship that reading comprehension and reasoning processes in arithmetic word problems (AWPs) have with academic achievement in secondary school, focusing on classic abstract reasoning, and on new cognitive measures of verbal deduction
We argue that deduction and reading comprehension are involved in arithmetic word problem solving and most of the complex learning tasks students commonly face at school and constitute an important higher-order cognitive ability that underlies academic achievement
The first analysis aimed to determine if there was any difference between versions of AWPs
Summary
Considered the “language of science”, the learning of its elementary rules is essential for the development of mathematical thought and constitutes one of the fundamental objectives of formal education. This learning process, not without its difficulties [2,3], often determines the academic and future employability of its students, see [4,5,6,7,8], something well known to students whose level is, in general terms, below the European average according to the Organisation for Economic. We argue that deduction and reading comprehension are involved in arithmetic word problem solving and most of the complex learning tasks students commonly face at school and constitute an important higher-order cognitive ability that underlies academic achievement
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