Putting Two and Two Together: Declines in Arithmetic Fluency among Young Canadian Adults, 1993 to 2005. Technical Report 2014-01

Canadian university students (N = 461; aged between 17 and 22) were tested between 1993 and 2005 on a timed multi-digit arithmetic test. This test is closely related to the speed with which people can retrieve answers to arithmetic facts from memory. Scores declined by over 20% in this time period. These findings are discussed in relation to the changes in mathematics curricula that have taken place in North America over the past 20 years.