Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The success of Canada's rapidly evolving knowledge- and technology-based economies will depend increasingly upon the mathematical competence of its citizens. Numeracy may be more critical even than literacy in terms of employment opportunities. At present, Canadians' basic mathematical skills are, on average, relatively weak compared to many countries. This motivates experimental research into the basic cognitive processes that underlie mathematical skills. The purpose of my programme of research is to develop a detailed theory and computer model of adults' memory systems for the fundamental arithmetic operations, including simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. These operations provide the conceptual foundations upon which higher-order mathematical skills are built. Specifically, my research investigates the ""architecture"" of numerical skills (i.e., the functional and structural organization of the underlying component processes) and attempts to identify the mental codes and retrieval processes that subserve numerical comparison, estimation, and basic arithmetic. A unified theory of basic numerical cognition is the ultimate goal of this research, and its realization will provide a scientific basis for understanding individual and cross-national differences in adults' numerical competencies.