Abstract

ALSINA I PASTELLS, Àngel. Why do some children have difficulty calculating?: an approach from the study of human memory. Relime [online]. 2007, vol.10, n.3, pp.315-333. ISSN 2007-6819.

This work has studied the relation between human memory (central executive) and calculus performance, taking 94 Spanish students aged 7 and 8. Our results show that the relation between the central executive and arithmetic performance is important and consistent, so that children with less memory capacity will also have lower performance in areas of calculus. This data leads to the conclusion that the reeducation of children with calculus difficulties should neither rest on repetition, nor on meaningless practice, but in the activation of those psychological processes implicated in learning and, more concretely, in memory.

Keywords : Mathematics education; arithmetic calculus; mathematical performance; working memory; central executive.