Abstract
A Chinese advantage over Americans was found for economically relevant computational and reasoning abilities in arithmetic for groups of 6th- and 12th-grade students matched or equated on general intelligence. No cross-national difference for computational or reasoning abilities was found for samples of older (60- to 80-year-old) Chinese and American adults equated on general intelligence. The pattern of change in arithmetical competencies across cohorts suggests that the Chinese advantage in 6th and 12th grade is due to a cross-generational decline in competencies in the United States and a cross-generational improvement in China.
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We thank Linda Coutts, Harry Oldweiler, Mary Porter, Becky Gregory, Nicole Harris, Aaron Stratman, Al Reuck, Sheela Vishwanath, Natalija Popovic, Jennifer Lin, Hong Hu, and Shang S. Liu for their assistance with various aspects of the study, and Michael Stadler, Donald Kausler, and three anonymous reviewers for comments on an earlier draft. The research was supported by Grant HD27931 from the NICHD and Grant AG06826 from the NIA.
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Geary, D.C., Hamson, C.O., Chen, Gp. et al. Computational and reasoning abilities in arithmetic: Cross-generational change in China and the United States. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 4, 425–430 (1997). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210805
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210805