The Effect of Verbal Cues and Irrelevant Details in the Statement of Arithmetic Problems Upon Children\u27s Attempted Solutions

This investigation was undertaken in an effort to determine the influence of verbal cues and irrelevant details in the statement of arithmetic problems upon children\u27s’ attempted solutions of the problems. A cue may be defined, for our purpose, as a stereotyped word or phrase in the statement of a problem, which, by repeated association with a particular operation, e,g. addition or multiplication, has come to suggest that operation to the pupil. It is, as Crossnick1e^ terms it, an identifying phrase which suggests to the pupil the process to be used. The irrelevant details, whose influence is to be studied, consist of superfluous numbers in the statement of the problem, i.e., numbers which are not required for the solution. A more accurate knowledge of the effects of these factors, would, it is felt, lead to a better understanding of some of the difficulties which pupils encounter in arithmetic problem-solving