ERIC Number: EJ1262153
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0888-4080
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Can "You" Make a Difference? Investigating Whether Perspective-Taking Improves Performance on Inconsistent Mathematical Word Problems
de Koning, Björn B.; van de Schoot, Menno
Applied Cognitive Psychology, v33 n5 p911-917 Sep-Oct 2019
Pronouns encouraging a second-person perspective (e.g., "you/your") affect peoples' mental representations constructed while reading and improve learning. The present study applied these insights to a domain in that such pronoun effects have yet been unexplored: mathematical word problem solving. Specifically, we encouraged a second-person perspective (using "your") in an attempt to reduce the consistency effect, that is, the finding that more errors are made on word problems containing a relational keyword inconsistent rather than consistent with the required arithmetic operation. Primary school children solved consistent and inconsistent word problems (containing the relational keywords "less than") presented in third-person (i.e., store name) or second-person ("your store") perspective. Results demonstrated the consistency effect, but the perspective manipulation did not produce significant differences between conditions, that is, a second-person perspective did not reduce the consistency effect. These findings suggest that reducing the consistency effect may require a less subtle approach than using personalized pronouns.
Descriptors: Form Classes (Languages), Perspective Taking, Word Problems (Mathematics), Problem Solving, Error Patterns, Arithmetic, Elementary School Students, Reading Comprehension
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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