Studied relationships among short-term memory, processing speed, sequencing ability, and long-term memory information retrieval in 7-year-olds. Found that when reading ability was controlled, arithmetic ability was best predicted by processing speed, with short-term memory accounting for no further unique variance. Children with arithmetic…

Proposes looking at the percent symbol (%) as an operator, which means to divide any number in front of it by 100. Stresses the importance of using correct words to describe the numbers generated in percent calculations. Explains how to (1) calculate percent using equivalent fractions; (2) divide fraction numerators by denominators, retaining the…

Assesses the etiology of the covariation between mathematics performance and general cognitive ability in data from a sample of 555 twins selected for learning deficits and from a sample of 570 control twins pairs. Results show that the phenotypic relationship between mathematics and general cognitive ability is due primarily to genetic…

A sample of 144 mathematical tasks used during reform-oriented teaching was analyzed in terms of task features and cognitive demands. The ways cognitive demands of high-level tasks declined and factors associated with task changes were explored. Teachers used tasks that led to the development of students' thinking capacities. (MAK)

High school students gifted in spatial ability were selected from a large national sample and compared to those gifted in mathematical ability on multiple measures. The students gifted with spatial ability had interests less compatible with traditional coursework and lower levels of academic and occupational success. (SLD)

Describes a mathematics reasoning course at Drake University and efforts to introduce collaborative, small-group, mixed-ability activities into the classroom. Comments on the ease, difficulties, rewards, and demands involved. Discusses student and instructor attitudes towards the collaborative activities. (AIM)

The Graduate Record Examination General Test (GRE) is a measure of academic reasoning abilities that is intended to be a power test in which speed of responding plays at most a minor role. To test this assumption, we experimentally administered both the verbal and quantitative sections of the GRE with standard time limits and with 1.5 times the…

Historically, mathematics has been stereotyped as a male domain, and there is considerable evidence to support this belief. In the last 30 years, mathematics education researchers have uncovered a range of factors contributing to the documented achievement and participation differences that favored males and sought to redress them. Mathematics as…

People spontaneously discover new representations during problem solving. Discovery of a mathematical representation is of special interest, because it shows that the underlying structure of the problem has been extracted. In the current study, participants solved gear-system problems as part of a game. Although none of the participants initially…

This study investigated ability-related differences in strategy use and development in the domain of simple arithmetic, in terms of the model of strategic change, using the choice/no-choice method and the chronological-age/ability-level-match design. Twenty-six second-graders with strong mathematical abilities (MA), 25 second-graders with weak MA,…

Can music in and of itself tell anything about the mind of the person who composes or performs it? This question is of general philosophical interest, but it takes on more than philosophical significance in contexts where there is reason to think that music may be the only significant point of contact between one human being and another. There are…

It has long been the assumption of many in the field of second language teaching that learning a second language helps to promote and enhance native language skill development, and that this correlation is direct and positive. Language professionals have assumed that learning a second language directly supports the development of better skills,…

This document describes a study undertaken by Florida community colleges to analyze student reading rates, which currently vary by ethnicity. To assess this concept, median scores for students who failed the College Placement Test (CPT) were compared between different ethic backgrounds across all Florida community colleges. All areas of the CPT…

Addresses the way in which adults talk about the mathematical content of young children's activities and how the child's mathematical endeavors are dependent upon adult evaluations of them. Presents two examples for discussion: (1) sorting and counting by a two-year-old; and (2) a seven-year-old working with Dienes materials. (ASK)

The Brief Symptom Inventory was administered to 274 mathematically gifted secondary students identified by a national talent search and enrolled in a summer precalculus program. Results indicated that these students were significantly better adjusted than the adolescent normative group. Gender, age, achievement level, and verbal ability were…