Citizen Science to Communicate about Public Health Messages: The Reach of a Playful Online Survey on Sitting Time and Physical Activity.

There is a lack of research on how to communicate public health guidelines. Citizen science (CS) has been an effective way to involve the public in research. This study analyses the reach of a well-established CS experiment, launched during an annual national science event, to understand if it could be used as communication strategy for public health issues. A short playful online survey contained tailored health-related messages associated to an "animal totem" profile, based on the combination of sitting and physical activity levels (koala: high sitting, low activity; gorilla: high sitting, high activity; zebra: low sitting, low activity; bee: low sitting, high activity). Tweets, radio interviews, radio and online advertisements, press articles, and a press conference were used to promote the CS experiment. Google Analytics and Facebook Graph API (application programming interface) (use and spread of experiment) and descriptive statistics (attributes of adults completing the experiment) were used. A total of 6,246 adults completed the experiment, with a peak of views (n = 5,103) and completions (n = 1,209) a couple of days before the event. Completers were mostly female (65.8%), on average 37.5 years old, and had a healthy body mass index (23.8 kg/m2). Nearly half (46.4%) had the most beneficial profile ("bee"), 26.5% had the least healthy profile ("koala"). CS as part of a national science event is a good platform for health communication as 1 in 1,000 Flemish adults were reached. However, those completing the experiment were not representative of the general Flemish adult population and reported to be more physically active. Abbreviations: API: application programming interface; BMI: body mass index; CVD: cardiovascular disease; METs: metabolic equivalents.

Strategic flexibility in computational estimation for Chinese- and Canadian-educated adults.

The purpose of the present study was to examine factors that influence strategic flexibility in computational estimation for Chinese- and Canadian-educated adults. Strategic flexibility was operationalized as the percentage of trials on which participants chose the problem-based procedure that best balanced proximity to the correct answer with simplification of the required calculation. For example, on 42 × 57, the optimal problem-based solution is 40 × 60 because 2,400 is closer to the exact answer 2,394 than is 40 × 50 or 50 × 60. In Experiment 1 (n = 50), where participants had free choice of estimation procedures, Chinese-educated participants were more likely to choose the optimal problem-based procedure (80% of trials) than Canadian-educated participants (50%). In Experiment 2 (n = 48), participants had to choose 1 of 3 solution procedures. They showed moderate strategic flexibility that was equal across groups (60%). In Experiment 3 (n = 50), participants were given the same 3 procedure choices as in Experiment 2 but different instructions and explicit feedback. When instructed to respond quickly, both groups showed moderate strategic flexibility as in Experiment 2 (60%). When instructed to respond as accurately as possible or to balance speed and accuracy, they showed very high strategic flexibility (greater than 90%). These findings suggest that solvers will show very different levels of strategic flexibility in response to instructions, feedback, and problem characteristics and that these factors interact with individual differences (e.g., arithmetic skills, nationality) to produce variable response patterns.

Sixty-four or four-and-sixty? The influence of language and working memory on children's number transcoding.

Number transcoding (e.g., writing 64 when hearing "sixty-four") is a basic numerical skill; rather faultlessly performed in adults, but difficult for children. In the present study, children speaking Dutch (an inversed number language) and French (a non-inversed number language) wrote Arabic digits to dictation. We also tested their IQ and their phonological, visuospatial, and executive working memory. Although the number of transcoding errors (e.g., hearing 46 but writing 56) was equal in both groups, the number of inversion errors (e.g., hearing 46 but writing 64) was significantly higher in Dutch-speaking than in French-speaking children. Regression analyses confirmed that language was the only significant predictor of inversion errors. Working-memory components, in contrast, were the only significant predictors of transcoding errors. Executive resources were important in all children. Less-skilled transcoders also differed from more-skilled transcoders in that they used semantic rather than asemantic transcoding routes. Given the observed relation between number transcoding and mathematics grades, current findings may provide useful information for educational and clinical settings.

Error adaptation in mental arithmetic.

Until now, error and conflict adaptation have been studied extensively using simple laboratory tasks. A common finding is that responses slow down after errors. According to the conflict monitoring theory, performance should also improve after an error. However, this is usually not observed. In this study, we investigated whether the characteristics of the experimental paradigms normally used could explain this absence. More precisely, these paradigms have in common that behavioural adaptation has little room to be expressed. We therefore studied error and conflict adaptation effects in a task that encounters the richness of everyday life's behavioural adaptation--namely, mental arithmetic, where multiple solution strategies are available. In accordance with our hypothesis, we observed that post-error accuracy increases after errors in mental arithmetic. No support for conflict adaptation in mental arithmetic was found. Implications for current theories of conflict and error monitoring are discussed.

The development of the SNARC effect: evidence for early verbal coding.

In a recent study, Gevers and colleagues (2010, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Vol. 139, pp. 180-190) showed that the SNARC (spatial numerical association of response codes) effect in adults results not only from spatial coding of magnitude (e.g., mental number line hypothesis) but also from verbal coding. Because children are surrounded by rulers, number lines, and the like in the classroom, it is intuitively appealing to assume that they first use their mental number line to represent numbers and that only later in development a verbal recoding of magnitude information takes place. However, this hypothesis has never been tested. The goal of the current study was to define the developmental pattern of both accounts (spatial and verbal) in explaining the SNARC effect. To this end, 9- and 11-year-olds were tested in a magnitude comparison task. Surprisingly, clear and robust evidence for verbal coding of magnitude information was observed in both age groups. Our results imply that the ability to use verbal coding of magnitude information is robustly present early in formal schooling.

Passive hand movements disrupt adults' counting strategies.

In the present study, we experimentally tested the role of hand motor circuits in simple-arithmetic strategies. Educated adults solved simple additions (e.g., 8 + 3) or simple subtractions (e.g., 11 - 3) while they were required to retrieve the answer from long-term memory (e.g., knowing that 8 + 3 = 11), to transform the problem by making an intermediate step (e.g., 8 + 3 = 8 + 2 + 1 = 10 + 1 = 11) or to count one-by-one (e.g., 8 + 3 = 8…9…10…11). During the process of solving the arithmetic problems, the experimenter did or did not move the participants' hand on a four-point matrix. The results show that passive hand movements disrupted the counting strategy while leaving the other strategies unaffected. This pattern of results is in agreement with a procedural account, showing that the involvement of hand motor circuits in adults' mathematical abilities is reminiscent of finger counting during childhood.

Cultural differences in strategic behavior: a study in computational estimation.

Imbo and LeFevre (2009) observed that Asians (responding in their 2nd language) selected strategies less adaptively than did non-Asians (responding in their 1st language). In the present research, we tested whether adaptive strategy selection is (a) really more resource demanding for Asians than for non-Asians or (b) more resource demanding for participants answering in a nonpreferred language. Three groups of participants were tested on a computational estimation task (e.g., 42 × 57 ≈ ?) in no-load and load conditions: 40 Belgian-educated adults who answered in their first language (Dutch), 40 Chinese-educated adults who answered in their first language (Chinese), and 40 Chinese-educated adults who answered in their second language (English). Although the Chinese were faster and more accurate than the Belgians, they selected strategies less adaptively. That is, the Chinese were less likely to choose the strategy that produced the best estimate; this was especially so when their working memory was loaded. Further, we also observed that the Chinese who answered in English were slower than the Chinese who answered in Chinese; this difference was larger for difficult strategies and under working memory load. These results are interpreted in terms of the encoding complex model, whereas the explanation for the adaptivity results is based on cultural differences in educational history.

Bidirectionality in synesthesia: evidence from a multiplication verification task.

Color-grapheme synesthetes automatically perceive achromatic numbers as colored (e.g., 7 is turquoise). Up until recently, synesthesia was believed to be unidirectional. For instance, the number 7 gives rise to the percept of turquoise but the perception of turquoise does not trigger the number 7. However, some recent studies argue for bidirectional connections Cohen Kadosh et al., 2005; Johnson et al., 2007; Knoch et al., 2005). In this study, a multiplication verification task (e.g., 7 x 2 = 14, true/false?) was used to test bidirectionality. In agreement with previous studies we observed that the presentation of colors evokes numerical magnitudes. The current findings add two important notions to previous studies: (a) The influence of color on the processing of numerical information can be extended to multiplication verification tasks and (b) The perception of color can both facilitate and interfere with the processing of digit-related information.

The role of phonological and visual working memory in complex arithmetic for Chinese- and Canadian-educated adults.

Two experiments were conducted to test cultural differences in the role of phonological and visual working memory in complex arithmetic. Canadian- and Chinese-educated students solved complex subtraction problems (e.g., 85 - 27; Experiment 1) and complex multiplication problems (e.g., 6 x 13; Experiment 2) under phonological and visual working memory loads. Problem complexity (i.e., borrow or carry operations) and presentation format (i.e., horizontal vs. vertical) were also manipulated. The results showed that both Chinese- and Canadian-educated participants relied on both phonological and visual working memory resources when solving complex subtraction and multiplication problems. Selective involvement of phonological and visual working memory as a function of operation (Lee & Kang, 2002) or presentation format (Trbovich & LeFevre, 2003) was found only for Chinese-educated participants and not for Canadian-educated participants, calling into question the generalizability of these findings across arithmetic operations and cultural groups.

Cultural differences in complex addition: efficient Chinese versus adaptive Belgians and Canadians.

In the present study, the authors tested the effects of working-memory load on math problem solving in 3 different cultures: Flemish-speaking Belgians, English-speaking Canadians, and Chinese-speaking Chinese currently living in Canada. Participants solved complex addition problems (e.g., 58 + 76) in no-load and working-memory load conditions, in which either the central executive or the phonological loop was loaded. The authors used the choice/no-choice method to obtain unbiased measures of strategy selection and strategy efficiency. The Chinese participants were faster than the Belgians, who were faster and more accurate than the Canadians. The Chinese also required fewer working-memory resources than did the Belgians and Canadians. However, the Chinese chose less adaptively from the available strategies than did the Belgians and Canadians. These cultural differences in math problem solving are likely the result of different instructional approaches during elementary school (practice and training in Asian countries vs. exploration and flexibility in non-Asian countries), differences in the number language, and informal cultural norms and standards. The relevance of being adaptive is discussed as well as the implications of the results in regards to the strategy choice and discovery simulation model of strategy selection (J. Shrager & R. S. Siegler, 1998).

Practice effects on strategy selection and strategy efficiency in simple mental arithmetic.

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of practice on strategy selection and strategy efficiency in mental arithmetic. Participants had to solve simple addition or multiplication problems, after having received 0, 3, or 6 practice sessions (Experiment 1), and before and after having received 3 practice sessions (Experiment 2). Strategy selection was measured by means of trial-by-trial strategy reports, whereas strategy efficiency was measured by means of response latencies. Results showed significant practice effects on retrieval frequency, procedural frequency, retrieval efficiency, and procedural efficiency. However, practice effects on strategy efficiency appeared to be both strategy-specific (i.e., only for procedural strategies) and operation-specific (i.e., only for multiplication problems). Implications of the present results for mathematic cognition and its modeling are discussed.

Effects of problem size, operation, and working-memory span on simple-arithmetic strategies: differences between children and adults?

Adult's simple-arithmetic strategy use depends on problem-related characteristics, such as problem size and operation, and on individual-difference variables, such as working-memory span. The current study investigates (a) whether the effects of problem size, operation, and working-memory span on children's simple-arithmetic strategy use are equal to those observed in adults, and (b) how these effects emerge and change across age. To this end, simple-arithmetic performance measures and a working-memory span measure were obtained from 8-year-old, 10-year-old, and 12-year-old children. Results showed that the problem-size effect in children results from the same strategic performance differences as in adults (i.e., size-related differences in strategy selection, retrieval efficiency, and procedural efficiency). Operation-related effects in children were equal to those observed in adults as well, with more frequent retrieval use on multiplication, more efficient strategy execution in addition, and more pronounced changes in multiplication. Finally, the advantage of having a large working-memory span was also present in children. The differences and similarities across children's and adult's strategic performance and the relevance of arithmetic models are discussed.

Do multiplication and division strategies rely on executive and phonological working memory resources?

The role of executive and phonological working memory resources in simple arithmetic was investigated in two experiments. Participants had to solve simple multiplication problems (e.g., 4 x 8; Experiment 1) or simple division problems (e.g., 42 / 7; Experiment 2) under no-load, phonological-load, and executive-load conditions. The choice/no-choice method was used to investigate strategy execution and strategy selection independently. Results for strategy execution showed that executive working memory resources were involved in direct memory retrieval of both multiplication and division facts. Executive working memory resources were also involved in the use of nonretrieval strategies. Phonological working memory resources, on the other hand, tended to be involved in nonretrieval strategies only. Results for strategy selection showed no effects of working memory load. Finally, correlation analyses showed that both strategy execution and strategy selection correlated with individual-difference variables, such as gender, math anxiety, associative strength, calculator use, arithmetic skill, and math experience.

Working memory, strategy execution, and strategy selection in mental arithmetic.

A total of 72 participants estimated products of complex multiplications of two-digit operands (e.g., 63 x 78), using two strategies that differed in complexity. The simple strategy involved rounding both operands down to the closest decades (e.g., 60 x 70), whereas the complex strategy required rounding both operands up to the closest decades (e.g., 70 x 80). Participants accomplished this estimation task in two conditions: a no-load condition and a working-memory load condition in which executive components of working memory were taxed. The choice/no-choice method was used to obtain unbiased strategy execution and strategy selection data. Results showed that loading working-memory resources led participants to poorer strategy execution. Additionally, participants selected the simple strategy more often under working-memory load. We discuss the implications of the results to further our understanding of variations in strategy selection and execution, as well as our understanding of the impact of working-memory load on arithmetic performance and other cognitive domains.

The influence of problem features and individual differences on strategic performance in simple arithmetic.

The present study examined the influence of features differing across problems (problem size and operation) and across individuals (gender, amount of daily arithmetic practice, calculator use, and arithmetic skill) on simple arithmetic performance. Regression analyses were used to investigate the role of these variables in both strategy selection and strategy efficiency. Results show that more skilled and highly practiced students used memory retrieval more often and executed their strategies more efficiently than did less skilled and practiced students. Furthermore, calculator use correlated with both retrieval and procedural strategy efficiency but not with strategy selection. Only very small associations with gender were observed, with boys retrieving slightly faster than girls. Implications of the present findings for models of mental arithmetic are discussed.

The role of working memory in the carry operation of mental arithmetic: number and value of the carry.

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the role of phonological and executive working-memory components in the carry operation in mental arithmetic. We manipulated the number of carry operations, as previous research had done, but also the value that had to be carried. Results of these experiments show that in addition to the number of carry operations, the value of the carry is also an important variable determining the difficulty of arithmetical sums. Furthermore, both variables (number and value) interacted with each other in such a way that the combination of multiple carries and values of carries larger than one resulted in more difficult problems irrespective of the presence of a working-memory load. The findings with respect to working-memory load suggest that mainly the central executive is important in handling the number of carry operations as well as the value that has to be carried. The implications of the present findings for our views on mental arithmetic and its reliance on working memory are discussed.

The role of working memory in carrying and borrowing.

The present study analyzed the role of phonological and executive components of working memory in the borrow operation in complex subtractions (Experiments 1 and 2) and in the carry operation in complex multiplications (Experiments 3 and 4). The number of carry and borrow operations as well as the value of the carry were manipulated. Results indicated that both the number of carry/borrow operations and the value of the carry increased problem difficulty, resulting in higher reliance on phonological and executive working-memory components. Present results are compared with those obtained for the carry operation in complex addition and are further discussed in the broader framework of working-memory functions.

The development of strategy use in elementary school children: working memory and individual differences.

The current study tested the development of working memory involvement in children's arithmetic strategy selection and strategy efficiency. To this end, an experiment in which the dual-task method and the choice/no-choice method were combined was administered to 10- to 12-year-olds. Working memory was needed in retrieval, transformation, and counting strategies, but the ratio between available working memory resources and arithmetic task demands changed across development. More frequent retrieval use, more efficient memory retrieval, and more efficient counting processes reduced the working memory requirements. Strategy efficiency and strategy selection were also modified by individual differences such as processing speed, arithmetic skill, gender, and math anxiety. Short-term memory capacity, in contrast, was not related to children's strategy selection or strategy efficiency.