Practical Arithmetic and Transfer

A Study among West African Tribesmen

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2315744
AutoresAndrea L Petitto (University of California San Diego, autor de correspondencia)
Año1982
Volumen13
Número1
Páginas15-28
Fecha de publicación1982-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Cross-Cultural Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0022-0221 • E-ISSN: 1552-5422
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0022022182131003
OpenAlexW2111933658
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8
Referencias citadas4

Transfer of mathematical problem-solving ability was studied among adult unschooled cloth merchants and tailors in West Africa. The purpose was to examine the role of familiarity of problem components and of the overall problem form. Experimental tasks tested arithmetic ability, measurement facts, and ability to solve variations of typical cloth-selling arithmetic problems. Results showed cloth merchants and tailors to be equivalent in basic arithmetic and measurement skills but that cloth merchants were better able to organize these skills to effectively solve price problems with both familiar and unusual materials. Using unfamiliar numerical content interfered with the ability to execute component arithmetic operations for both professional groups

Arithmetic · Component (thermodynamics · Mathematics education · Mental arithmetic · Parallel computing · Transfer (computing · Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills · Computer Science · Mathematics · Mathematics Education and Teaching Techniques