A considerable number of children rely on counting to solve single-digit addition problems when they are expected to use accurate retrieval-based strategies. There are different reasons why this may be so. Children may use inefficient counting strategies, produce errors when applying backup strategies or lack sufficient confidence to just state…

Adults' simple arithmetic performance is more efficient when operands are presented in Arabic digit (3 + 5) than in number word (three + five) formats. An explanation provided is that visual familiarity with digits is higher respect to number words. However, most studies have been limited to single-digit addition and multiplication problems. In…

Subtractions of the type M - S = ? can be solved by various strategies, including subtraction by addition. In this study, we investigated children's use of subtraction by addition by means of reaction time analyses. We presented 106 third to sixth graders with 32 large non-tie single-digit problems in both subtraction (12 - 9 = .) and addition…