Presentation effects on arithmetic problem solving

Two arithmetic verification experiments with 60 adults were conducted to examine the effects of equation presentation format on arithmetic problem solving. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to verify the truth of the addition trials [3 + 5 = 7] while participants were asked to verify the truth of multiplication trials [4 × 3 = 12] in Experiment 2. Important variables manipulated are the equation presentation format and the level of difficulty. Convergent evidence indicated that the equation presentation format is crucial for the participants to process mathematical addition and multiplication questions as well as the selection of appropriate strategy to solve arithmetic problems. In addition, the author found that effects of this factor even exceed the difficulty level of the arithmetic problem itself in the course of cognitive processing. Copyright © 2002 by the Psychologia Society.