The Impact of Transitive Inference Operations on Mathematics Problem Solving Abilities of Pre-Primary School Children

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which operations of transitive inference tasks have affected the mathematics problem solving abilities of pre-primary school children. Four research hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using 400 nursery school children whose ages ranged between 4.5 and 5.5 years respectively. Two instruments namely; Generalized tasks on Transitivity and Mathematics test were validated and used to collect data. Significant relationship was found between transitive inference operations and mathematics problem solving abilities of pre- school children. Also, there was a significant difference between the mathematics problem solving abilities of children who could perform transitive inference tasks and those who could not. No significant gender difference was however observed in mathematics problem solving abilities of children who could perform transitive inference. Thus, transitive inference acquisition has opened up educational possibilities for preschoolers to solve problems in mathematics. Therefore, children need a lot of practice on the logical concept to improve their reasoning skills in mathematics.

The Nigerian Journal of Guidance Counselling Vol. 10 (1) 2005: pp. 85-94