A large number of quick-calculation goddesses and talented teenagers have emerged in the program "Super Brain". After reading it, I feel that my IQ is spiked. In just a few seconds, you can complete the addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of multiple numbers at high speed, and the answer is clear at a glance. You can also blurt out the answer or write it immediately as long as you hear the question number or see the calculation question yourself. The principle of this fast calculation is abacus mental calculation.
Many people want to know why abacus mental arithmetic can handle huge numbers in such a short time, which is a problem.
First, why is mental arithmetic so fast?
The learning process of abacus mental arithmetic is roughly as follows:
Learners first learn how to operate the physical abacus (that is, learn abacus). After mastering abacus skills, the teacher will ask them to try to describe the form and changing process of abacus in their minds, that is, to form a "living abacus" in their minds.
After a period of practice, they can not rely on the actual abacus, but only rely on the movement of their fingers (fingers are empty) to operate the imaginary abacus in their minds. At this time, they began to master the skills of abacus mental arithmetic; After a lot of practice, they can completely rely on the beads in their brains (fingers are completely motionless) to complete complex mathematical calculations with extremely high speed and accuracy.
The operation process of mental abacus requires the rapid change of static abacus in multiple different gears in the virtual abacus image, which greatly tests the memory ability of the brain and the ability to flexibly process dynamic abacus images. Long-term abacus mental arithmetic training may strengthen cognitive processing and improve children's cognitive ability through continuous operation of psychological representation.
Second, the ability to execute.
In addition to fast calculation, children's execution ability has also improved. In 20 17, the world-famous brain imaging magazine "Atlas of Human Brain" published the latest research results of Chen Feiyan, an associate professor in the Department of Physics of Zhejiang University: abacus mental arithmetic training can effectively improve the executive function of Chinese children and improve the neurological efficiency of the prefrontal cortex during development.
Chen Feiyan and others spent five years in Heilongjiang Province to carry out a long-term experiment of abacus mental arithmetic training. In Qiqihar, they followed more than 200 students from grade one to grade five in three schools for a long time and did experiments for one month every year for five years.
One of the studies was published in Plos One in June, 20 15. The children in abacus mental arithmetic group were significantly better than the control group in mathematical calculation ability and visual spatial logical reasoning ability. The reaction speed in cognitive conversion task is faster than that in control group; Abacus mental arithmetic training can adjust the relationship between mathematical ability and cognitive conversion ability, which mainly shows that cognitive conversion ability has a great influence on children's mathematical ability in abacus mental arithmetic group.
In addition to the significant improvement of children's academic performance by long-term training, Chen Feiyan team pays more attention to the influence of abacus mental arithmetic training on other aspects of children, mainly in executive function, which can be understood as the core component of intelligence.
People's executive function is equivalent to the CPU of a computer, which is a very core part of the whole operation process. Long-term abacus mental arithmetic training affects children's executive function, which is manifested in memory, anti-interference ability and self-adjustment ability. After long-term training, children with good executive function will be flexible, have stronger anti-interference ability, do the same task more efficiently and use resources more effectively.
Third, the influence of abacus mental arithmetic training on the brain
So why did this change happen, and how did abacus mental arithmetic training affect the brain? Chen Feiyan's recent research paper published in Scientific Reports, a sub-journal of Nature, shows that using visual imagination and visual motion imagination in abacus mental arithmetic practice may improve the processing efficiency of brain regions related to visual space and promote their information transmission and processing ability.
A fifteen-year-long experiment has not stopped yet. At present, the interdisciplinary laboratory of Physics Department of Zhejiang University, where Chen Feiyan's team is located, is the longest and most systematic team engaged in abacus mental arithmetic research in China and even in the world. Chen Feiyan spent more than ten years on this research.
When Chen Feiyan became a master in 2002, he began to learn abacus mental arithmetic. At first, he held the same idea as most people-why does abacus mental arithmetic make people calculate so fast? How does the brain process numbers? Chen Feiyan only studied it as a short-term project.
"At that time, the research conditions were difficult, and abacus mental arithmetic was only carried out outside the school as an interest class, not a compulsory course. Later, he made some achievements, which attracted the attention of China Abacus Association. They also hope that we can continue to study this issue as a third party and let more people know the benefits of abacus mental arithmetic training. " Chen Feiyan said that in the past ten years, her tutor Professor Tang has been guiding, encouraging and supporting her. "He encouraged me to do mental arithmetic first in the world. My team and I are also working in this direction. "
Fourth, look ahead.
Now, she hopes to provide theoretical basis for education and teaching practice with scientific research. "The results of abacus mental arithmetic research will help to design more targeted measures to promote the development of children's mathematical ability in future education and intervention." Chen Feiyan said that the speed of calculation itself is of little significance to students. It is important to explore the transfer effect of abacus mental arithmetic training, that is, the influence of abacus mental arithmetic training on students' other abilities.
It is the goal of our research and the original intention of our scientific experiment to provide experimental data and theoretical basis for the education authorities to make a reasonable plan.