EVEN BEFORE FORMAL INSTRUCTION, CHINESE CHILDREN OUTPERFORM AMERICAN CHILDREN IN MENTAL ADDITION

At the start of kindergarten, groups of Chinese and American children were administered a test of addition skills, a numerical memory span m easure, and an addition strategy assessment. The Chinese children used a more mature mix of strategies to solve the addition problems, which contributed to their 3:1 advantage over the American children in numb er correct on the paper-and-pencil addition test. When the Chinese chi ldren could not retrieve an addition fact directly from memory, they t ended to count verbally, whereas the American children tended to count on their fingers or guess. The national difference in the relative us e of verbal and finger counting as problem-solving strategies, in turn , appeared to be related to a Chinese advantage in memory span for num bers. Implications for understanding national differences in mathemati cs learning and ability are discussed.