 The critics assert that "the TERC computational methods are cumbersome, inefficient, and only work for carefully selected simple problems" and that "conscious thought is regularly required for both TERC method selection and TERC method execution" even at the simplest levels, thus precluding automaticity and the ability to focus conscious thought on higher-level cognitive tasks later on.TERC defenders' response is that the traditional arithmetic methods familiar to Americans are not necessarily those used in other nations.Research has shown that students are capable of developing algorithms that are as correct, efficient, and generalizable as the "standard" algorithms.