Mental Math: Subtraction

SKILL: Numbers

DIFFICULTY: 2/5

LEVELS: 12 levels plus random based on the number of double digits, the number of terms, and if the problem requires borrowing

BRIEF RATIONALE: Mental math uses working memory and is needed for many daily living tasks.

In Mental Math: Subtraction, you will subtract numbers in your head. The treatment auto-adjusts in difficulty based on performance.


WORDS BUTTON: This reveals the written number words (e.g., three, twelve), along with audio of the corresponding number words. There is no penalty for using this support.


HINT: A hint button is available in the lower-left corner of the screen to display a visual representation of the minuend (the larger number you are subtracting from). The visual is interactive, so you can take away the number circles to help you solve the problem. Using the hint will mark the item as incorrect as it was not answered independently.

FOR THE CLINICIAN:

Mental math relies on attention, working memory, and executive function. In fact, people with strong working memory skills tend to perform better on mental math tasks (Dattola et al., 2023).


This treatment starts with subtracting 2 single-digit numbers and progresses to subtracting 3 double-digit numbers, requiring borrowing. This allows drilled practice of arithmetic facts, which are stored in semantic memory (Zamarian et al., 2022). As the treatment advances, patients have the opportunity to practice arithmetic procedures, a skill needed for many daily living tasks. They can incorporate cognitive strategies that carryover to real life, like saying the equation aloud and/or checking the answer before submitting.

Check out this article, What SLPs Need to Know about Acalculia, for more information and references.

The report for this treatment includes average time per problem for each level, so you can easily track progress related to processing speed as well as accuracy.

Selected References:

  1. Dattola, S., Bonanno, L., Ielo, A., Quercia, A., Quartarone, A., & La Foresta, F. (2023). Brain active areas associated with a mental arithmetic task: An eLORETA study. Bioengineering, 10(12), 1388. https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering10121388
  2. Zamarian, L., Delazer, M., & Semenza, C. (2022). Arithmetic (re-)learning in neurological patients. Lernen Und Lernstörungen, 11(4). https://doi.org/10.1024/2235-0977/a000377
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