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Demands of cognitive thinking for completing math problems begins with lower level demands and moves its way up to higher level demands.  By the time a student reaches the point of higher level demands and solving complex math problems, the lower level demands are almost mindless.  At a young age, students begin to work on memorizing their addition facts and rules for adding and subtracting.  They focus on getting the correct answer without using a complex procedure (Smith and Stein, 2012).  As they become more confident and knowledgable about the facts and procedures with no connections, their problems become more demanding and require a deeper understanding.  Students in higher grade levels also begin learning new concepts by memorizing, because they are introduced to it and memorizing new formulas or patterns they see to solve problems.  Students at the level of higher demands who have memorized and made connections among problems are able to look at a problem, rule out formulas and strategies they do not have to utilize for a specific problem, and solve it.  I remember in grade school when I was first introduced to a variable, it was a completely new subject and trying to solve for x gave me slight anxiety because I did not know what steps to take to isolate x at first.  After practicing and memorizing the steps to take, I was able to complete problems with variables with ease.
Students should be challenged and perform tasks at higher level thinking degrees.  Even students who are in lower level grades attempting low demand math problems can use higher order thinking.  They may need to explain the process they used to get an answer or have a reason as to why they solved a problem the way they did, no matter its complexity.  As students get to know a math topic more, they will be able to explain it better and understand the relationships between the numbers, formulas, and manipulatives they are given to work with.  Even students in young grades will be able to reach the "doing mathematics" category when they understand the nature of the problem and recognize the steps they must take to get the answer (Smith and Stein, 2012).  Students will also be able to create their own math problems and story problems to solve when they get to making connections and doing mathematics.

Smith, M. S. and Stein, M.K. (2012). Selecting and Creating Mathematical Tasks: From Research to Practice. In Lappan, G., Smith, M. S., & Jones, E. (ed.). (2012). Rich & Engaging Mathematical Tasks: Grades 5-9. Reston, VA. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. p. 4-10.