<p>I am taking a graduate cognitive science course, but cognitive science is not my main area of focus. The methods I primarily use to study mathematics learning/education are within the realm of sociology/anthropology.</p>
<p>I am interested in writing my course paper on working through ambiguity in non-routine mathematics problems (e.g., model-eliciting activities). However, I am getting lost in my literature search, since I am unfamiliar with the authors, journals, etc. that study related topics. I hope to connect some cognitive science research to the research I normally work with as well.</p>
<p>Is anyone familiar with cognitive science/psychology research on working through ambiguity in mathematics problems (or related work)? I am just looking for some papers that will help me get the literature review started. Right now, I feel like I am searching in the dark because I find papers in databases with related titles, but, when I read the article, the focus is very different from what I am searching for. I might even be searching the wrong things. Perhaps, there's a theory with a name unrelated to the key words I am using in my searches?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance. I just really need some guidance of where to look. The literature we've been reading in the cognitive science seminar is not related to my paper topic.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-12T05:58:09.860Z
Math is pretty much made to not be ambiguous, I would guess it is either handwavy, faulty or sloppy explanations of the teacher/writer or misunderstandings/misconceptions of the student/reader that introduces ambiguity.
Emil
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-12T06:05:55.787Z
Maybe abuse of notation would be a source of ambiguity. It is unfortunate that it is so common.
Emil
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-12T22:32:15.027Z
Ambiguity definitely exists in mathematics and there is plenty of literature on it, but not so much in cognitive science and cognitive psychology. Within this literature, I also see little to no connections to cognitive science/psychology. Although you say "Math is pretty much made to not be ambiguous," there are many cases of ambiguity/uncertainty in mathematical/statistical modeling, for example. The issue is that I do not see this connection in the type of literature I need to use (i.e., cognitive science).
user31861
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-13T05:14:42.307Z
That is not the math though, that is the usage of math. I guess I did not understand you meant the usage of math. I thought you meant a formal system of inference with ambiguities, which would be very useless. You might also mean interpretation of a well formed formula, which by design allows you to interpret a formula differently based on what universe of discourse you want to use the math in. Or you simply meant a many to many mapping. Please clarify what is ambiguous.
Emil
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-13T05:34:36.143Z
Is it something like analogies, mental models or mnemonics you are after? Or which problem domains in applied math that are undeterministic or stochastic? Or how the problem solving process works when the problem is in an unexplored field?
Emil
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-13T05:52:45.157Z
(I guess you could also mean representation theory, where an abstract concept is made more concrete, but it is possible to do so in many ways, or in modelling a problem, where you need to find which model works best for you).
Emil
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-13T06:32:56.220Z
(Also I am sorry to give you these basic questions when I probbaly can't help you but I would like to understand the question)
Emil
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-24T05:28:52.860Z
Welcome to psych.SE.  It would likely help to provide a few examples of ambiguity in mathematics problems, as I also am not sure what you are referring to.  Having specific examples would likely help with finding related articles as well.
Arnon Weinberg
<cognitive-psychology><reference-request><cognitive>
Recent cognitive science research on ambiguity and learning mathematics?
user31861
# Recent cognitive science research on ambiguity and learning mathematics?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-11-12)

I am taking a graduate cognitive science course, but cognitive science is not my main area of focus. The methods I primarily use to study mathematics learning/education are within the realm of sociology/anthropology.

I am interested in writing my course paper on working through ambiguity in non-routine mathematics problems (e.g., model-eliciting activities). However, I am getting lost in my literature search, since I am unfamiliar with the authors, journals, etc. that study related topics. I hope to connect some cognitive science research to the research I normally work with as well.

Is anyone familiar with cognitive science/psychology research on working through ambiguity in mathematics problems (or related work)? I am just looking for some papers that will help me get the literature review started. Right now, I feel like I am searching in the dark because I find papers in databases with related titles, but, when I read the article, the focus is very different from what I am searching for. I might even be searching the wrong things. Perhaps, there's a theory with a name unrelated to the key words I am using in my searches?

Thanks in advance. I just really need some guidance of where to look. The literature we've been reading in the cognitive science seminar is not related to my paper topic.

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, reference-request, cognitive

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Math is pretty much made to not be ambiguous, I would guess it is either handwavy, faulty or sloppy explanations of the teacher/writer or misunderstandings/misconceptions of the student/reader that introduces ambiguity.  
> **username_1**: Maybe abuse of notation would be a source of ambiguity. It is unfortunate that it is so common.  
> **username_0**: Ambiguity definitely exists in mathematics and there is plenty of literature on it, but not so much in cognitive science and cognitive psychology. Within this literature, I also see little to no connections to cognitive science/psychology. Although you say "Math is pretty much made to not be ambiguous," there are many cases of ambiguity/uncertainty in mathematical/statistical modeling, for example. The issue is that I do not see this connection in the type of literature I need to use (i.e., cognitive science).  
> **username_1**: That is not the math though, that is the usage of math. I guess I did not understand you meant the usage of math. I thought you meant a formal system of inference with ambiguities, which would be very useless. You might also mean interpretation of a well formed formula, which by design allows you to interpret a formula differently based on what universe of discourse you want to use the math in. Or you simply meant a many to many mapping. Please clarify what is ambiguous.  
> **username_1**: Is it something like analogies, mental models or mnemonics you are after? Or which problem domains in applied math that are undeterministic or stochastic? Or how the problem solving process works when the problem is in an unexplored field?  
> **username_1**: (I guess you could also mean representation theory, where an abstract concept is made more concrete, but it is possible to do so in many ways, or in modelling a problem, where you need to find which model works best for you).  
> **username_1**: (Also I am sorry to give you these basic questions when I probbaly can't help you but I would like to understand the question)  
> **username_2**: Welcome to psych.SE.  It would likely help to provide a few examples of ambiguity in mathematics problems, as I also am not sure what you are referring to.  Having specific examples would likely help with finding related articles as well.  

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## 0 answers

