The role of cue familiarity in adults’ strategy choices for simple addition

Abstract

Are adults’ decisions to use direct memory retrieval for simple addition influenced by the familiarity of problem operands? We manipulated the familiarity of a subset of operands by having adults repeatedly practise specific additions (two+five=?; Experiment 1) or magnitude comparisons (two five, choose the larger; Experiment 2). Both experiments provided evidence that pre-exposure to single-digit operands increased reported use of direct retrieval for new combinations of the familiarised operands. RT and error patterns across experiments also supported the conclusion that increased use of retrieval facilitated performance. These results show that operand familiarity potentially plays a significant role in adults’ strategy choices for simple addition.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Notes

¹The rate of retrieval observed here for the practised problems is similar to previous studies examining addition retrieval using word format (Campbell et al., 2004; Campbell & Penner-Wilger, 2006).

²The retrieval-only analysis included the 41 participants who had at least one valid retrieval RT in each of the four Familiarity×Block cells.

³For participants who practised comparison pairs corresponding to the addition problems 2 + 5, 5 + 2, 7 + 8, and 8 + 7, the LF counterparts were 3 + 4, 4 + 3, 6 + 9, and 9 + 6, whereas for participants who practised pairs corresponding to 3 + 4, 4 + 3, 6 + 9, and 9 + 6, the LF counterparts included 2 + 5, 5 + 2, 7 + 8, and 8 + 7.

⁴The increase in errors over blocks in Experiment 2 might simply reflect a speed − accuracy tradeoff, as RTs decrease substantially. This trend was also apparent, but not statistically significant, in Experiment 1.