Abstract EN:

This thesis concerns the content effects in solving arithmetic problems through several solving strategies. We claim that these effects are the result of the knowledge of the depicted situation when the wording is in favor of some coding of the problem element; such coding gives rise to a particular solving strategy and inhibits all the others. We show that the nature of the variable involved in the problem (number of elements, age, …) influences the spontaneous implementation of a strategy and hides the capacity to perceive other ones ; it is possible with modification of the possible scenario of situations suggested by the variables to inflect the implementation of the spontaneous strategy in favor of an alternative strategy although that change still also depends on the nature of the variables. To conceive that several codings are possible and to understand the equivalence between strategies is a difficult step which needs work. We study the learning possibilities by using semantic re-encoding of the properties of the situation which is to be solved i. E. By an abstractive approach in relation to the semantic structures of the wording. We show that such teaching has enabled 10-11 year old pupils. To transfer strategies between problems sharing the same formal structure, it is facilitated by a semantic recoding that makes evident the structural similarities between the problems. In conclusion, it is possible to make acquiring the coding with regard to the deeper structure, by taking into account the relations between induced structures and deeper structures. Learning to categorize at a good level of abstraction facilitates the construction of the adequate representation.