Explaining mistakes in single digit multiplication: A cognitive model

Trudy Buwalda, Jelmer Borst, Han van der Maas, Niels Taatgen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)
442 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Error patterns for arithmetic problems are very rich in information, but they are hard to investigate systematically because of the small number of mistakes made. To be able to investigate errors in arithmetic we therefore used an online educational application called Math Garden, which teaches children arithmetic in the form of several different tasks. Because of the large number of users, Math Garden provides sufficient data to investigate errors systematically. Using the Math Garden data set, we developed a cognitive model in the PRIMs architecture that can give a comprehensible account of the errors made in single-digit multiplication problems. The model does a relatively good job of explaining errors on easy problems, but has difficulties explaining mistakes for harder problems. In addition to the current model, we propose some approaches to improve the model to explain mistakes in the harder problems as well.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of ICCM 2016 - 14th International Conference on Cognitive Modeling
EditorsDavid Reitter, Frank E. Ritter
PublisherThe Pennsylvania State University
Pages131-136
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9780998508207
Publication statusPublished - 2016
Event14th International Conference on Cognitive Modeling, ICCM 2016 - University Park, United States
Duration: 3-Aug-20166-Aug-2016

Publication series

NameProceedings of ICCM 2016 - 14th International Conference on Cognitive Modeling

Conference

Conference14th International Conference on Cognitive Modeling, ICCM 2016
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityUniversity Park
Period03/08/201606/08/2016

Keywords

  • Arithmetic
  • Errors
  • Multiplication
  • PRIMs

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