ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors first try to learn from the additive case, and they then move to an analysis of multiplicative situations with the intention of discovering the basic multiplicative problem types. All the problems given as examples of asymmetric situations in this chapter describes the implicit models paradigm fall under Schwartz's. It was originally intended as a kind of replication of a study conducted by a student of Fischbein on the implicit models of multiplication but with the addition of an instructional treatment. The textual approach to studying multiplicative problems is presented in more detail than the previous two approaches. The first part deals with children's comprehension of various types of multiplicative word problems and their sensitivity to the textual assumptions underlying the problems. A dimensional analysis, the focus of Vergnaud and Schwartz, must precede any meaningful numerical calculation.
