External validation of the strategy choice model for addition

Abstract

The study was designed to assess the external validity, both convergent and discriminant forms, of the strategy choice model proposed by Siegler and Shrager (1984, in C. Sophian, Ed., Origins of cognitive skills (pp. 229–293), Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum). Forty-two preschool/kindergarten children were administered the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) and the Arithmetic subtest of the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) and were videotaped as they solved 25 simple addition problems. Strategies, and their associated reaction times, used in problem solving were classified in accordance with the strategy choice model. A variable which represented adaptive strategy choices for solving addition problems was significantly correlated with the Arithmetic subtest of the WRAT and with the Arithmetic, Geometric Design, and Mazes subtests of the WPPSI. Component scores for a memory retrieval variable were significantly related to performance on both tests of arithmetic ability; the greater the facility of information retrieval from long-term memory the better the performance on the traditional measures. This pattern of correlations suggested strategy choices for solving addition problems were related to both the numerical and spatial ability domains, whereas the speed of executing the component process of fact retrieval was related only to arithmetic ability. In all, the study provided strong support for the convergent validity of the strategy choice model and modest support for its discriminant validity. Finally, the relationship between information-processing models and reference ability measures was discussed.