Math anxiety (MA) and math performance are generally negatively correlated (Barroso et al., 2021; Namkung et al., 2019). However, the mechanisms underlying this negative association remain unclear. According to the attentional control theory (ACT; Eysenck et al., 2007), anxious individuals experience impaired attentional control during problem…

The More A-More B intuitive rule has become a research hotspot in the field of mathematical education in recent years. The intuitive rule of More A-More B is often reflected in students' responses to comparison tasks. In such tasks, students are asked to compare 2 objects that differ in a certain salient quantity A (where A[subscript 1] >…

Previous research has demonstrated that cognitive offloading (i.e., externalizing mental processes) is useful for immediate problem solving. However, long-term effects of cognitive offloading on subsequent problem solving without offloading are remarkably understudied. Our main goal was to investigate the effects of representation control (i.e.,…

Both accurate monitoring and adequate control are crucial for effective self-regulation when learning from problem-solving tasks. Prior research has shown that self-regulated learning is especially harmful for low prior knowledge students, given their difficulties with accurate monitoring and control decisions. Although many studies have indicated…

We investigated how the updating function supports the integration process in solving arithmetic word problems. In Experiment 1, we measured reading time, that is, translation and integration times, when undergraduate and graduate students (n = 78) were asked to solve 2 types of problems: those containing only necessary information and those…

Computer-based assessment can provide new insights into behavioral processes of task completion that cannot be uncovered by paper-based instruments. Time presents a major characteristic of the task completion process. Psychologically, time on task has 2 different interpretations, suggesting opposing associations with task outcome: Spending more…

Understanding an arithmetic operation implies, at minimum, knowing the direction of effects that the operation produces. However, many children and adults, even those who execute arithmetic procedures correctly, may lack this knowledge on some operations and types of numbers. To test this hypothesis, we presented preservice teachers (Study 1),…

Whereas the assessment of complex problem solving (CPS) has received increasing attention in the context of international large-scale assessments, its fairness in regard to students' cultural background has gone largely unexplored. On the basis of a student sample of 9th-graders (N = 299), including a representative number of immigrant students (N…

Considering content, task-execution and subject variables in metacognitive and cognitive performance, analogies with integral or separable attributes were solved by selected undergraduate students with training in one of three task strategies or no strategy training. Training success, subject awareness of variables, score correlations, and…

Results indicate that for the task of generating counterexamples to invalid syllogisms, a primary source of difficulty is the first step of forming the negation of the conclusion, especially if the conclusion is a "Some are not" statement. When this step is done for the subject, most of the errors disappear. (Author/BJG)

Tree searching was applied as a computer model of simple addition sentences. Results indicated that the number of problem reductions performed in tree searching accounted for most of the variance across problems in student error rate and solution time. The technique constitutes a computer test for the adequacy of a problem solving prescription.…

This study assessed how rewards impacted intrinsic motivation when students were rewarded for achievement while learning an activity, for performing at a specific level on a test, or for both. Undergraduate university students engaged in a problem-solving activity. The design was a 2 * 2 factorial with 2 levels of reward in a learning phase…

A study involving 110 fifth- and sixth-graders (51 male and 59 female), classified as low or high in effort orientation, assessed the effects of task- versus performance-oriented instructions on a computer-assisted test programed to ensure that all examinees failed to solve all problems. Problem-solving strategy analyses were preformed. (TJH)