The use of the operand recognition paradigm for the study of arithmetic strategies: An overview

Identifying the strategies used by individuals when they solve arithmetic problems is crucial in the domain of numerical cognition. The operand-recognition paradigm (ORP) presented here is an innovative method of investigation, which does not resort to solution times or verbal protocol collections, a well-known feature of potentially biased researchers’ conclusions. Instead, the ORP relies on the recognition times of the operands involved in the problems. This allows us to demonstrate that, contrary to a long-standing view, retrieval of the problem answers is not systematically used by children and adults, even for simple problems. Indeed, algorithmic procedures, which cannot be identified using more classic research paradigms, are still in use in these populations. This paper provides an overview of the literature on studies using the ORP conducted with children, adults, and elderly people solving additions and subtractions.