Understand math cognition.

Improve math education.

We aim to understand and improve fundamental abilities of symbolic mathematical thinking: reading and writing numbers, calculation, algorithmic thinking, and more.

Our Goals

For each mathematical ability, we ask about…

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    Cognitive mechanisms

    Characterize the cognitive mechanisms underlying the mathematical ability

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    Learning disorders

    Identify specific learning disorders that disrupt the performance in this aspect of math

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    Individual differences

    Discover why some people are better than others in this aspect of math

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    Personalized learning

    Improve the mathematical ability by creating learning methods that can be adapted to each person’s cognitive profile

About the Mathematical Thinking Lab

Many people say that “mathematics is a different kind of language”. What they often mean is that similar to language, mathematics allows using a basic set of symbols to express complex meanings by combining these symbols according to certain rules. For example, the base-10 system allows combining digits or words into numbers; operators such as + and ÷ allow combining these numbers to perform basic arithmetic; and mathematical procedures combine simple calculations to attain more complex goals, e.g., solving an equation.

Our lab examines how, when children and adults do mathematics, their mind handles these systems of symbols and rules via cognitive mechanisms such as language and executive functions. We investigate this question for ‘the average person’, but we also examine individual differences, i.e., how and why some people are better than others in particular aspects of math, and which precise learning disorders disrupt specific mathematical abilities. To investigate these issues we use a variety of methods from Cognitive Psychology and Neuropsychology. For more details, visit the Research page.

We believe that cognitive research should not remain in the lab, but rather be used to improve education. Thus, we create methods and tools to diagnose mathematical learning disorders in individual children and adults, and we develop research-based educational methods that should make math learning easier and more efficient.

The Mathematical Thinking Lab is affiliated with Tel Aviv University’s School of Education and Sagol School of Neuroscience.

Selected publications