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The effect of perceptual fluency on overcoming the interference of the More A-More B intuitive rule among primary school students in a perimeter comparison task: the perspective of cognitive load

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Abstract

Recent research has shown that reducing the perceptual fluency of shape processing can be an effective means for overcoming the interference of the More A-More B intuitive rule among grade 3 students in a perimeter comparison task. From the perspective of cognitive load, the current study focused on the mechanism of perceptual fluency on overcoming the interference of the More A-More B intuitive rule among grade 3 students in a perimeter comparison task. The existing studies have suggested that perceptual disfluency will inevitably increase ECL in the task-solving process and thus potentially detrimental toward learning. However, we could argue that overcoming the interference of the More A-More B intuitive rule in the disfluent condition could be interpreted as a simultaneous increase in cognitive GCL. Because of the theoretically complementary relationship between ECL and GCL, two experiments were designed to respectively examine ECL and GCL under different perceptual fluency conditions in the perimeter comparison task. Experiment 1 (N = 33) used a dual-task paradigm to examine participants’ ECL, manipulating the clarity of shapes. The results indicated that participants experienced significantly less interference from the More A-More B intuitive rule under the low-perceptual-fluency condition than under the high-perceptual-fluency condition, while ECL was significantly higher under the former condition than under the latter one. Experiment 2 (N = 72) explored GCL in the perimeter comparison task through a self-designed transfer test, using an identical manipulation method of perceptual fluency as in experiment 1. Compared to the high-perceptual-fluency group, participants in the low-perceptual-fluency group performed significantly better in the perimeter comparison task and transfer test. It was concluded that low perceptual fluency resulted in participants’ ECL while at the same time producing GCL during completion of the perimeter comparison task.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, 050000, China

    Ying Liu

  2. Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Ru-De Liu

  3. Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Jon R. Star

  4. Teachers’ College, Beijing Union University, Beijing, China

    Jia Wang & Huimin Tong

  5. Moral Education Department, Wanquan Primary school, Beijing, China

    Huimin Tong

Authors
  1. Ying Liu
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  2. Ru-De Liu
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  3. Jon R. Star
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  4. Jia Wang
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  5. Huimin Tong
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ru-De Liu.

Additional information

Ying Liu. School of Education, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, 050000, China. E-mail: chenmobenben@126.com. Web site: http://www.hebtu.edu.cn

Current themes of research:

Educational psychology and mathematics learning.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Ying, L., Liu, R. D., Yi, D., Jia, W., Rui, Z., & Le, X. (2016). How online basic psychological need satisfaction influences self-disclosure online among Chinese adolescents: moderated mediation effect of exhibitionism and narcissism. Front Psychol, 7, 1279.

Ru-De Liu. Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China. E-mail: rdliu@bnu.edu.cn (R. Liu). Web site: http://www.bnu.edu.cn

Current themes of research:

Educational psychology and mathematics learning.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Ying, L., Liu, R. D., Yi, D., Jia, W., Rui, Z., & Le, X. (2016). How online basic psychological need satisfaction influences self-disclosure online among Chinese adolescents: moderated mediation effect of exhibitionism and narcissism. Front Psychol, 7, 1279.

Liu, R. D., Ding, Y., Xu, L., & Wang, J. (2017). Involvement of working memory in mental multiplication in Chinese elementary students. Journal of Educational Research, 110(4), 1-11.

Liu, R. D., Ding, Y., Gao, B. C., & Zhang, D. (2015). The relations between number property strategies, working memory, and multiplication in elementary students. Journal of Experimental Education, 83(3), 319-343.

Jon R. Star. Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. E-mail: jon_star@gse.harvard.edu. Web site: https://www.harvard.edu

Current themes of research:

Educational psychology and mathematics learning.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Star, J. R., Pollack, C., Durkin, K., Rittle-Johnson, B., Lynch, K., & Newton, K., et al. (2015). Learning from comparison in algebra. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 40, 41-54.

Star, J. R., Newton, K., Pollack, C., Kokka, K., Rittle-Johnson, B., & Durkin, K. (2015). Student, teacher, and instructional characteristics related to students’ gains in flexibility. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 41, 198-208.

Jia Wang. Teachers’ College, Beijing Union University, Beijing, China. E-mail: 657462433@qq.com

Current themes of research:

Educational psychology and mathematics learning.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

Jia, W. , Ru-De, L. , Yi, D. , Le, X. , Ying, L. , & Rui, Z. . (2017). Teacher’s autonomy support and engagement in math: multiple mediating roles of selfefficacy, intrinsic value, and boredom. Front Psychol, 8, 1006-.

Huimin Tong. Wan Quan Primary school, Haidian District, Beijing, China. E-mail: 413841721@qq.com

Current themes of research:

Educational psychology and mathematics learning.

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Liu, Y., Liu, RD., Star, J.R. et al. The effect of perceptual fluency on overcoming the interference of the More A-More B intuitive rule among primary school students in a perimeter comparison task: the perspective of cognitive load. Eur J Psychol Educ 35, 357–380 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-019-00424-w

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