Word problems: a review of linguistic and numerical factors contributing to their difficulty

Frontiers in Psychology

Gabriella Daroczy¹ 

关键词: word problems;    linguistics complexity;    numerical complexity;    text properties;    difficulty;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00348

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Word problems (WPs) belong to the most difficult and complex problem types that pupils encounter during their elementary-level mathematical development. In the classroom setting, they are often viewed as merely arithmetic tasks; however, recent research shows that a number of linguistic verbal components not directly related to arithmetic contribute greatly to their difficulty. In this review, we will distinguish three components of WP difficulty: (i) the linguistic complexity of the problem text itself, (ii) the numerical complexity of the arithmetic problem, and (iii) the relation between the linguistic and numerical complexity of a problem. We will discuss the impact of each of these factors on WP difficulty and motivate the need for a high degree of control in stimuli design for experiments that manipulate WP difficulty for a given age group.

【 授权许可】

CC BY