Abstract
An important body of evidence has shown that reading comprehension ability is related to working memory and, in particular, to the success in Daneman and Carpenter’s (1980) reading and listening span test. This research tested a similar hypothesis for arithmetic word problems, since, in order to maintain and process the information, they require working memory processes. A group of children possessing average vocabulary but poor arithmetic problem-solving skills was compared with a group of good problem solvers, matched for vocabulary, age, and socioeconomic status. Poor problem solvers presented lower recall and a greater number of intrusion errors in a series of tasks testing working memory and memory for problems. The results obtained over a series of six experimental phases, conducted during a 2-school-year period, offer evidence in favor of the hypotheses that groups of poor problem solvers may have poor performance in a working memory test requiring inhibition of irrelevant information (Hypothesis 1), but not in other short-term memory tests (Hypothesis 2), that this difficulty is related to poor recall of critical information and greater recall of to-be-inhibited information (Hypothesis 3), that poor problem solvers also have difficulty in remembering only relevant information included in arithmetic word problems (Hypothesis 4) despite the fact that they are able to identify relevant information (Hypothesis 5). The results show that problem-solving ability is related to the ability of reducing the memory accessibility of nontarget and irrelevant information.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amoretti, G., Bazzini, L., Pesci, A., &Reggiani, M. (1994).Test di matematica per la scuola dell’obbligo [Mathematic test for primary schools]. Florence, Italy: Organizzazioni Speciali.
Baddeley, A. D. (1986).Working memory. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Clarendon Press.
Baddeley, A. D. (1990).Human memory: Theory and practice. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Bjorklund, D., &Harnishfeger, K. (1990). The resources construct in cognitive development: Diverse sources of evidence and a theory of inefficient inhibition.Developmental Review,10, 48–71.
Brainerd, C. J., &Reyna, V. F. (1988). Generic resources, reconstructive processing and children’s mental arithmetic.Developmental Psychology,24, 324–334.
Conway, A. R. A., &Engle, R. W. (1994). Working memory and retrieval: A resource dependent inhibition model.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,123, 354–373.
Cornoldi, C. (1995). La memoria di lavoro visuospaziale [Visuospatial working memory]. In F. Marucci (Ed.),Le immagini mentali (pp. 145–181). Florence, Italy: La Nuova Italia.
Cornoldi, C., &Colpo, G. (1981).Prove di lettura MT [Reading comprehension test MT]. Florence, Italy: Organizzazioni Speciali.
Cornoldi, C., De Beni, R., &Pazzaglia, F. (1996). Profiles of reading comprehension difficulties: An analysis of single cases. In C. Cornoldi & J. Oakhill (Eds.),Reading comprehension difficulties: Processes and intervention (pp. 113–136). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Cornoldi, C., &Pra Baldi, A. (1978). Il valore d’immagine nei bambini: Norme per 257 nomi e usi nella ricerca applicata [Imagery value in children: Norms for 257 nouns and uses in applied research].Formazione e Cambiamento,3–4, 275–304.
Craik, F. I. M., &Tulving, E. (1975). Depth of processing and the retention of words in episodic memory.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,14, 268–294.
Daneman, M., &Carpenter, P. A. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading.Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,19, 450–466.
Daneman, M., &Carpenter, P. A. (1983). Individual differences in integrating information between and within sentences.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,9, 561–583.
De Beni, R., Palladino, P., Pazzaglia, F., &Cornoldi, C. (1998). The role of inhibition in the working memory deficits of poor readers.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,51A, 305–320.
Engle, R. W., Conway, A. R. A., Tuholski, S. W., &Shisler, R. J. (1995). A resource account of inhibition.Psychological Science,6, 122–125.
Geary, D. C. (1990). A componential analysis of an early learning deficit in mathematics.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology,49, 363–383.
Gernsbacher, M. A. (1993). Less skilled readers have less efficient suppression mechanisms.Psychological Science,4, 294–298.
Gernsbacher, M. A., &Faust, M. E. (1991). The mechanism of suppression: A component of general comprehension skill.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,17, 245–262.
Hasher, L., Stoltzfus, E. R., Zacks, R., &Rypma, B. (1991). Age and inhibition.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,12, 323–335.
Hasher, L., &Zacks, R. (1988). Working memory, comprehension, and aging: A review and a new view. In G. H. Bower (Ed.),The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 22, pp. 193–225). San Diego: Academic Press.
Hegarty, M., Mayer, R. E., &Monk, C. A. (1995). Comprehension of arithmetic word problems: A comparison of successful and unsuccessful problem solvers.Journal of Educational Psychology,87, 18–32.
Hitch, G. J., &McAuley, E. (1991). Working memory in children with specific arithmetical learning difficulties.British Journal of Psychology,82, 375–386.
Leather, C. V., &Henry, L. A. (1994). Working memory span and phonological awareness tasks as predictors of early reading ability.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology,58, 88–111.
Logie, R. H., Gilhooly, K. J., &Wynn, V. (1994). Counting on working memory in arithmetic problem solving.Memory & Cognition,22, 395–410.
Low, R., &Over, R. (1992). Hierarchical ordering of schematic knowledge relating to area-of-rectangle problems.Journal of Educational Psychology,84, 62–69.
Low, R., Over, R., Doolan, L., &Mitchell, S. (1994). Solution of algebraic word problems following training in identifying necessary and sufficient information within problems.American Journal of Psychology,107, 423–439.
Lucangeli, D., &Cornoldi, C. (1997). Mathematics and metacognition: What is the nature of the relationship?Mathematical Cognition,2, 121–139.
Lucangeli, D., &Passolunghi, M. C. (1995).Psicologia dell’apprendimento matematico [Psychology of mathematical learning]. Turin, Italy: Utet.
Mayer, R. E. (1982). Memory for algebra story problems.Journal of Educational Psychology,74, 199–216.
Mayer, R. E. (1992).Thinking, problem solving, cognition (2nd ed.). New York: Freeman.
Mayer, R. E., Larkin, J. H., &Kadane, J. (1984). A cognitive analysis of mathematical problem solving ability. In R. Sternberg (Ed.),Advances in the psychology of human intelligence (Vol. 2, pp. 231–273). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Meiran, N. (1996). Is reading ability related to activation dumping speed?Evidence from immediate repetition priming. Memory & Cognition,24, 41–59.
Montague, M. (1992). The effects of cognitive and metacognitive strategy instruction on the mathematical problem solving of middle school students with learning disabilities.Journal of Learning Disabilities,25, 230–248.
Nathan, M. J., Kintsch, W., &Young, E. (1992). A theory of algebra word problem comprehension and its implications for the design of learning environments.Cognition & Instructions,4, 329–390.
Oakhill, K., &Yuill, N. (1996). Higher order factors in comprehension disability: Processes and remediation. In C. Cornoldi & J. Oakhill (Eds.),Reading comprehension difficulties: Processes and intervention (pp. 69–92). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Passolunghi, M. C., Cornoldi, C., & De Liberto, S. (1996, July).Influence of working memory on word problem solving in children. Paper presented at the Second International Conference on Memory, Abano-Padua, Italy.
Passolunghi, M. C., Lonciari, I., & Cornoldi, C. (1995, August).The effects of metacognition categorization and planning ability on learning problem solving. Paper presented at the 6th Early European Conference, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Pressley, M. (1990).Cognitive strategy instruction that really improves children’s academic performance. Cambridge, MA: Brookline.
Reynolds, C., &Biegler, E. (1987).Test of memory and learning. Austin, TX: ProEd.
Shafrir, U., &Siegel, L. S. (1994). Subtypes of learning disabilities in adolescents and adults.Journal of Learning Disabilities,27, 123–134.
Shallice, T. (1988).From neuropsychology to mental structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Siegel, L. S., &Linder, B. A. (1984). Short-term memory processes in children with reading and arithmetic learning disabilities.Developmental Psychology,20, 200–207.
Siegel, L. S., &Ryan, E. B. (1988). Development of grammatical-sensitivity, phonological, and short-term memory skills in normally achieving and learning disabled children.Developmental Psychology,24, 28–37.
Siegel, L. S., &Ryan, E. B. (1989). The development of working memory in normally achieving and subtypes of learning disabled children.Child Development,60, 973–980.
Swanson, H. L. (1994). Short-term memory and working memory: Do both contribute to our understanding of academic achievement in children and adults with learning disabilities?Journal of Learning Disabilities,27, 34–50.
Swanson, H. L., Cooney, J. B., &Brock, S. (1993). The influence of working memory and classification ability on children’s word problem solution.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology,55, 374–395.
Thurstone, L. L., &Thurstone, T. G. (1941).Factorial studies of intelligence (Psychometric Monographs, No. 2). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Turner, M. L., &Engle, R. W. (1989). Is working memory capacity task dependent?Journal of Memory & Language,28, 127–154.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
This research was partially supported by an MURST grant and an EEG (HC&M) grant to the second author. Part of this research was presented at the International Conference on Memory, in Abano-Padua, Italy, July 15–19, 1996.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pasolunghi, M.C., Cornoldi, C. & De Liberto, S. Working memory and intrusions of irrelevant information in a group of specific poor problem solvers. Memory & Cognition 27, 779–790 (1999). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198531
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198531