Selection of procedures in mental addition: Reassessing the problem size effect in adults

Adults' solution times to simple addition problems typically increase with the sum of the problems (the problem size effect). Models of the solution process are based on the assumption that adults always directly retrieve answers to problems from an associative network. Accordingly, attempts to explain the problem size effect have focused either on structural explanations that relate latencies to numerical indices (e.g., the area of a tabular representation) or on explanations that are based on frequency of presentation or amount of practice. In this study, the authors have shown that the problem size effect in simple addition is mainly hue to participants' selection of nonretrieval procedures on larger problems (i.e., problems with sums greater than 10). The implications of these results for extant models of addition performance are discussed.