The relationship between sustained attention and automatic versus procedural arithmetic: The case of populations with typical development and subgroups of developmental dyscalculia.

OBJECTIVE: The differentiation between automatic and procedural processing in arithmetic can be crucial when examining the links between arithmetic and sustained attention, as the latter is suggested to be particularly important in more automatic and monotonous situations. The present study examined the interrelations between sustained attention and arithmetic performance while differentiating, for the first time, between automatic and procedural arithmetic problem solving, and between various groups diagnosed with difficulties in the numerical domain. METHOD: The data of 506 students from the national diagnostic system for learning disabilities were used in order to examine this relationship in typically developed population and different groups with developmental dyscalculia (DD): pure DD and DD with attention deficiency. RESULTS: Our results demonstrate, for the first time, a differential relationship between arithmetic and sustained attention depending on the automaticity of the arithmetic task, as strong links were found under automatic arithmetic tasks when compared to under procedural ones. Furthermore, although the DD groups with attention difficulties presented similar patterns of correlations to those seen among the typically developed group, the pure DD showed no correlation between sustained attention and automatic arithmetic. CONCLUSION: These findings not only suggest that sustained attention plays a different role in automatic and procedural arithmetic but also support the notion that pure DD might not achieve automaticity in arithmetic and therefore do not rely on the sustained attention system even under simple automatic situations in arithmetic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Examining the effect of perceived performance-contingent gains, losses and errors on arithmetic.

Gains and losses have previously been found to differentially modulate Executive Functions and cognitive performance depending on performance contingency. Following recent findings suggesting that random gains and losses modulate arithmetic performance, the current study aimed to investigate the effect of perceived performance-contingent gains and losses on arithmetic performance. In the current study, an arithmetic equation judgment task was administered, with perceived performance-contingent gain, loss, and error feedback presented upon each trial. The results from two experiments suggest that when perceiving gain and loss as performance-contingent, the modulation of arithmetic performance, seen previously under random contingency conditions was entirely eliminated. In addition, another type of feedback was examined in the context of an arithmetic task: post-error adjustments. When performance after error feedback was compared to performance after other aversive performance feedback such as loss signals, only errors, but not other aversive feedback, modulated performance in the subsequent trial. These findings further extend the knowledge regarding the influence of gain and loss situations, as well as errors, on arithmetic performance.

The relationship between the height dimension and numerical processing.

It is well documented that the ability to perceive numbers depends on perception of size. However, size consists of two different dimensions: height and width. In previous size-congruency experiments, the changes in the size dimension were confounded by changes in both the height and width dimensions. Hence, it is not clear if two digits that are equal in size but with different width and height produce a congruency effect and if so, which dimension (height or width) will be associated with quantity more prominently. In fact, different theories might predict different outcomes for the association of height versus width with numbers. To resolve this issue, this study included two experiments in which two equal-size digits that differed from each other in the height and width dimensions were presented and participants were asked to decide which digit is numerically larger. The results revealed a novel congruency effect in which larger numbers are associated more prominently with the height dimension when compared with the width dimension. This effect has important implications for understanding the relationship between number processing and the spatial perception system.

The Influence of Gain and Loss on Arithmetic Performance.

Gain and loss modulation of different aspects of executive functions (EF) has been studied under changing conditions. However, the nature of this effect varies in different EF tasks, as both gain and loss were found to improve performance in specific EF tasks while hindering performance in others. The current study examines the influence of gain and loss stimuli on arithmetic performance. Since arithmetic processes have been found to rely heavily on EF, the current study addresses the question of "whether" and "in what direction" those stimuli might affect arithmetic performance. In three experiments, participants preformed an arithmetic equation judgment task, while gain and loss conditions were added in each trial in the form of a line drawn face representing either monetary gain, loss, or neither. In Experiment 1, the arithmetic task included carry and non-carry equations representing different arithmetic complexity levels. In Experiment 2, two and three addend equations were used, and in Experiment 3, the proportions of correct and incorrect equations differed. Results of all experiments demonstrated faster RT in the arithmetic task after gain stimuli when compared to the loss stimuli. Our results further extend our understanding regarding the nature of the relationship between gain and loss situations and arithmetic performance and further emphasize the conditions under which arithmetic performance can be improved or hindered.