Abstract: This work was conducted cooperatively by the Institute of Psychologyof the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Michiganin the United States. The group maths test was part of a larger study,The purpose of this preliminary study was to compare the mathematicalachievents between children in Beijing, Chicago, Sendai (Japan) and Taibei(Taiwan). The results indicate that Asian students get higher scores thantheir American counterparts. We tried to compare American textbooks with those of other countries.Teaching time seems to be an important factor affecting Chinese child-ren's performance. Their attitude toward study might be another factor.Other factors such as family condition, teachers' style, mothers' conceptand the way the class is conducted also influence the level of their achieve-ment. All of these factors are being analysed and the results will bereported later.

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