Participants completed long single digit sums in two
interactivity contexts. In a low interactivity condition sums
were solved with hands down. In a second, high
interactivity condition participants used moveable tokens.
As expected accuracy and efficiency was greater in the high
compared to the low interactivity condition. In addition,
participants were profiled in terms of working memory
capacity, numeracy, math anxiety and expertise in math.
All of these measures predicted calculation errors in the
low interactivity conditions; however, in the high
interactivity condition, participants’ performance was not
determined by any of these variables. We also developed a
scale to measure task engagement: Participants were
significantly more engaged with the task when they
completed the sums in the high interactivity condition.
However engagement level did not correlate with
calculation error, suggesting improvement in performance
with tokens was not the result of greater task engagement.
Interactivity transformed the deployment of arithmetic
skills, ameliorated performance, and helped to reduce the
difference in performance between individuals of low and
high math expertise.