In this study we investigated the structure of quantitative competence of kindergartners by testing a hypothesized four-factor model of quantitative competence consisting of the components counting, subitizing, additive reasoning and multiplicative reasoning. Data were collected from kindergartners in the Netherlands (n = 334) and in Cyprus (n =…

Strategy flexibility, adaptivity, and the use of clever shortcut strategies are of major importance in current primary school mathematics education worldwide. However, empirical results show that primary school students use such shortcut strategies rather infrequently. The aims of the present study were to analyze the extent to which Dutch sixth…

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…

Predictions of the Identical Elements (IE) model of arithmetic fact representation (Rickard, 2005; Rickard & Bourne, 1996) about transfer between arithmetic facts were tested in primary school children. The aim of the study was to test whether the IE model, constructed to explain adult performance, also applies to children. The IE model…

Described are two methods of calculating developed by the Dutch WISKOBAS Project: addition and subtraction with a loop abacus and multiplication using a grid model. (MP)