{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T04:16:47Z","timestamp":1788236207836,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788220800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000001","name":"National Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["1920725"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1920725"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000001","name":"National Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2051064"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2051064"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000001","name":"National Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["1920660"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1920660"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["1920725"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1920725"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/021nxhr62","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["2051064"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2051064"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/021nxhr62","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["1920660"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1920660"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/021nxhr62","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Intell."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Worked examples\u2014step-by-step examples of how to solve a problem correctly or incorrectly\u2014are known to promote algebraic thinking in middle and high school students. Whether they are useful in facilitating math learning in much younger students is unclear, however. The present study investigated how highlighting correct versus incorrect division strategies in a sharing context supports preschool children\u2019s learning and transfer across division tasks. Two hundred and one children (ages 4.01\u20136.96 years, M = 5.57) viewed videos of agents dividing toys using either a correct (one-to-one turn-taking) or incorrect (i.e., error prone) strategy. The children were asked to explain what the agent had done correctly, what the agent had done incorrectly, or to simply identify the color of the agents\u2019 shirts (Baseline condition). Afterwards, they completed two division tasks which required them to divide resources between two recipients (similar to training) and then between three recipients (novel division task). The results revealed that highlighting the correct or incorrect procedures led to improved performance on the division task relative to baseline, particularly for the youngest children completing the most challenging trials. Moreover, analyses of children\u2019s explanations revealed that those children who spontaneously referenced the division process outperformed those who referenced the outcome or another aspect. These findings suggest that drawing attention to procedural strategies can facilitate division learning in early childhood, highlighting the importance of process-focused instruction as a mechanism for supporting early mathematical development.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jintelligence14090192","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T03:19:26Z","timestamp":1788232766000},"page":"192","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Role of Worked Examples in Supporting Early Math Learning"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-7859-9514","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Taylor","family":"Stone","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3716-2762","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lesenia R.","family":"Fish","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3061-0523","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nadia","family":"Chernyak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gabriella","family":"Guadalupe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children\u2019s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3837-6188","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sara","family":"Cordes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.3102\/00346543070002181","article-title":"Learning from examples: Instructional principles from the worked examples research","volume":"70","author":"Atkinson","year":"2000","journal-title":"Review of Educational Research"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.1007\/BF03217428","article-title":"Early mathematics development and later achievement: Further evidence","volume":"18","author":"Aubrey","year":"2006","journal-title":"Mathematics Education Research Journal"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"419","DOI":"10.1007\/s11251-021-09545-6","article-title":"The effect of worked examples on student learning and error anticipation in algebra","volume":"49","author":"Barbieri","year":"2021","journal-title":"Instructional Science"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11","DOI":"10.1007\/s10648-023-09745-1","article-title":"A meta-analysis of the worked examples effect on mathematics performance","volume":"35","author":"Barbieri","year":"2023","journal-title":"Educational Psychology Review"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.1016\/j.learninstruc.2012.11.002","article-title":"Using example problems to improve student learning in algebra: Differentiating between correct and incorrect examples","volume":"25","author":"Booth","year":"2013","journal-title":"Learning and Instruction"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"914","DOI":"10.1080\/01443410.2023.2273762","article-title":"The effect of worked examples on learning solution steps and knowledge transfer","volume":"43","author":"Chen","year":"2023","journal-title":"Educational Psychology"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1555","DOI":"10.1037\/dev0000196","article-title":"Numerical cognition explains age-related changes in third-party fairness","volume":"52","author":"Chernyak","year":"2016","journal-title":"Developmental Psychology"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100969","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cogdev.2020.100969","article-title":"Counting promotes proportional moral evaluation in preschool-aged children","volume":"56","author":"Chernyak","year":"2020","journal-title":"Cognitive Development"},{"key":"ref_9","unstructured":"Common Core State Standards Initiative (2010). 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