Year: 1997
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the numeracy skills of adults with arithmetic disability. The research involved comparisons among three groups: adults performing poorly in arithmetic (AD, n = 24); adults matched for chronological age who did not experience difficulties in arithmetic (NCA, n = 24); and a group of normally achieving students (NAL, n = 21) who were functioning at the same arithmetic level as the AD adults. Comparing this latter group with the AD adults provided an opportunity to test a developmental-lag model of individual differences in arithmetic related skills. To obtain a measure of their arithmetic skills, the participants were individually administered tests of computation, attitude regarding arithmetic, and reasoning in the domain of arithmetic. The findings suggested that AD adults were similar, both in computational skills and in terms of arithmetic related reasoning, to their younger counterparts of the same arithmetic level. Adults with an arithmetic disability as well as normally achieving children showed similar problems in solving arithmetic questions, whereas the error patterns of normally achieving adults were different. Adults with an arithmetic disability and normally achieving children showed lower self-confidence ratings before and after word-problem solving than the normally achieving adult group. The AD group reported significantly higher levels of math anxiety than the two comparison groups. It was concluded that the group differences of arithmetic performance in this study support a weak developmental lag model in which arithmetic disabilities represent an incomplete maturation. Future research directions and educational implications for adults with arithmetic disability are discussed.
Author: Gabriella Szanto
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2797870328