The Development of Mental Addition as a Function of Schooling and Culture

Abstract

This study investigated the development of mental addition in schooled and unschooled children and adults from a traditional mercantile culture (Dioula, Ivory Coast) and one which is technologically advanced (American). Subjects at three age levels were given a series of mental addition problems; both the accuracy of response and strategies were analyzed. By adulthood, the unschooled Dioulas were as accurate as both schooled Dioulas and Americans. The strategies employed by unschooled individuals at all ages include the use of common number facts and, from 11 to 12 years onward, invented regrouping strategies. The predominant strategy of school children after the age of I 1 or 12 is the mental deployment of the standard written algorithm. The results are interpreted as showing that schooled and unschooled individuals in these cultures develop different but increasingly effective and adaptive methods for dealing with mental addition problems.