Why Automaticity Matters

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People sometimes talk about multiplication facts like they’re some kind of old-fashioned tiny little detail that doesn’t matter but understand that they do matter a lot and if they’re not automatic, then every algebra problem gets way heavier.

See, when a student isn’t automatic on arithmetic and they’re trying to do algebra, they’re not just thinking about variables, equations, or structure. They’re also spending a lot of mental energy on that basic arithmetic.

And that mental energy, that working memory, all the stuff they can hold in their brain at once, it’s pretty limited. So now the algebra problem is competing with the multiplication problem inside the student’s head, each vying for attention.

That’s why automaticity matters cause it frees up the student’s brain to actually think and pay attention to the harder thing.

Just like a basketball player thinking strategy while simultaneously dribbling the ball and passing to teammates, cause that’s all so automatic that they don’t even have to think about it.

They can just think about the game.

Further reading: Cognitive Science of Learning: Developing Automaticity .

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