Cognitive Mechanism Of Exact And Approximate Computation For Tibetan Middle School Students

Exact computation ability and approximate computation ability are two basic mental arithmetic abilities of individuals.They're two different abilities that have completely different cognitive processes.It is very necessary for the individual's daily life and study.Exact computation ability is an important part of mathematics education,and it's a hot topic in psychology and math education.Exact computation is the foundation of cultivating mathematical thinking,and it is the basis of cultivating students' innovative spirit and practical ability.In the past 20 years,with the rethinking of "actuarial ability oriented" mathematics education in the past,the approximate computation ability has become an important issue that has pay more attention to the mathematics and education.The Mathematics Curriculum Standards issued by our country also clearly points out that the approximate computation ability of students should be developed.Previous studies have focused on the brain mechanism of exact computation and approximate computation abilities.Studies have revealed brain regions activated by exact computation and approximate computation abilities,but there is still a lack of systematic and in-depth discussion on the cognitive mechanism of exact computation and approximate computation abilities.The research on cognitive mechanism mainly focuses on the relationship between working memory and exact computation and approximate computation abilities.But the past research only involves a single dimension,the exploration is not systematic and deep enough.In addition,studies have shown the important role of language ability in exact computation,but it is mainly focused on specific subjects.So,there is no direct evidence to show the role of language ability in exact computation and approximate computation abilities.China is a multi-ethnic country.Because of the differences in ethnic,social customs,living environment,cultural background,language,different ethnic students have different characteristics of mathematics learning and mathematics cognition.The ethnic education has been highly valued.The survey found that the minority students have more correct attitude towards mathematics learning,and they also have the working spirit.They also have a sufficient understanding of the importance of mathematics learning,and they are higher in terms of mathematics values and learning interest than the Han students.However,here is a certain gap between them and the Han students in math ability,such as logical thinking ability,calculation ability.The study also found that the math performance of Tibetan students was significantly lower than that of the Han students,and the situation of math learning was not optimistic,with less attention paid to the exact computation and approximate computation abilities of Tibetan students.Cognition is the basis of learning.The cognitive basis of ethnic minorities is important for teaching students in accordance with their aptitude.Therefore,this study will systematically investigate the roles of different working memory and language abilities in exact computation and approximate computation abilities from the perspective of cognition.In this study,150 Tibetan middle school students were investigated,and the roles of different working memory and language ability were systematically explored.This study includes two experiments.Experiment 1 investigated the role of different types of working memory in exact computation and approximate computation,divided the working memory system into three types,explored the correlation between verbal working memory,visual working memory and spatial working memory and exact computation,approximate computation,and explored the storage mode of exact computation and approximate computation information in the process of exact computation and approximate computation cognitive activities.The results show that :(1)Verbal working memory plays a unique role in exact computation cognition,and information in exact computation cognition is stored in the form of verbal;(2)Spatial working memory plays a unique role in approximate computation,and information is stored in spatial form in the process of approximate computation;(3)Information in the cognitive process of exact computation and approximate computation is less stored in the form of visual.Experiment 2 investigated the role of language ability in exact computation and approximate computation.According to the information of visual,pronunciation and semantic,language ability was divided into visual ability,pronunciation ability and semantic ability.The role of language ability in exact computation and approximate computation ability was systematically explored,and the way of coding representation in the process of exact computation and approximate computation was explained.The results show that:(1)Pronunciation ability plays a unique role in exact computation.Exact computation cognition is encoded in the form of pronunciation;(2)visual and semantics play a unique role in approximate computation,and the cognitive process of approximate computation is coded by the form of visual and semantics.Based on the above studies,the following conclusions are drawn:(1)The exact computation ability of Tibetan middle school students is generally low.The approximate computation ability is below the medium level.Exact computation and approximate computation have completely different cognitive mechanisms and cognitive processes.(2)Verbal working memory can predict exact computation ability of Tibetan middle school students,while spatial working memory can predict approximate computation ability of Tibetan middle school students.(3)Pronunciation ability can predict the exact computation ability of the Tibetan middle school students,visual and semantic ability can predict the approximate computation ability of Tibetan middle school students.