Students often perform arithmetic using rigid problem-solving strategies that involve left-to-right-calculations. However, as students progress from arithmetic to algebra, entrenchment in rigid problem-solving strategies can negatively impact performance as students experience varied problem representations that sometimes conflict with the order…

For students to advance beyond arithmetic, they must learn how to attend to the structure of math notation. This process can be challenging due to students' left-to-right computing tendencies. Brackets are used in mathematics to indicate precedence but can also be used as superfluous cues and perceptual grouping mechanisms in instructional…

Four experiments examined how faces compete with physically salient stimuli for the control of attention in 4-, 6-, and 8-month-old infants (N = 117 total). Three computational models were used to quantify physical salience. We presented infants with visual search arrays containing a face and familiar object(s), such as shoes and flowers. Six- and…