scholarly journals The Force of Numbers: Investigating Manual Signatures of Embodied Number Processing

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Miklashevsky ◽  
Oliver Lindemann ◽  
Martin H. Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Embodied Cognition ◽  
Grip Force ◽  
Numerical Cognition ◽  
Stimulus Presentation ◽  
Number Line ◽  
Number Processing ◽  
New Technique ◽  
Numerical Magnitude ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Number Magnitude

The study has two objectives: (1) to introduce grip force recording as a new technique for studying embodied numerical processing; and (2) to demonstrate how three competing accounts of numerical magnitude representation can be tested by using this new technique: the Mental Number Line (MNL), A Theory of Magnitude (ATOM) and Embodied Cognition (finger counting-based) account. While 26 healthy adults processed visually presented single digits in a go/no-go n-back paradigm, their passive holding forces for two small sensors were recorded in both hands. Spontaneous and unconscious grip force changes related to number magnitude occurred in the left hand already 100–140 ms after stimulus presentation and continued systematically. Our results support a two-step model of number processing where an initial stage is related to the automatic activation of all stimulus properties whereas a later stage consists of deeper conscious processing of the stimulus. This interpretation generalizes previous work with linguistic stimuli and elaborates the timeline of embodied cognition. We hope that the use of grip force recording will advance the field of numerical cognition research.

scholarly journals The SNARC Effect in the Processing of Second-Language Number Words: Further Evidence for Strong Lexico-Semantic Connections

2008 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 444-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jolien De Brauwer ◽  
Wouter Duyck ◽  
Marc Brysbaert
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Number Line ◽  
Snarc Effect ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Number Words ◽  
Number Magnitude ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Word Translation ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Semantic Mediation

We present new evidence that word translation involves semantic mediation. It has been shown that participants react faster to small numbers with their left hand and to large numbers with their right hand. This SNARC (spatial-numerical association of response codes) effect is due to the fact that in Western cultures the semantic number line is oriented from left (small) to right (large). We obtained a SNARC effect when participants had to indicate the parity of second-language (L2) number words, but not when they had to indicate whether L2 number words contained a particular sound. Crucially, the SNARC effect was also obtained in a translation verification task, indicating that this task involved the activation of number magnitude.

scholarly journals Cross-cultural and intra-cultural differences in finger-counting habits and number magnitude processing: Embodied numerosity in Canadian and Chinese university students

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Richard Morrissey ◽  
Mowei Liu ◽  
Jingmei Kang ◽  
Darcy Hallett ◽  
Qiangqiang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Cognition ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Experience ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Magnitude Processing ◽  
Number Magnitude ◽  
Finger Counting ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Pattern Of Performance

Recent work in numerical cognition has shown-that number magnitude is not entirely abstract, and at least partly rooted in embodied and situated experiences, including finger-counting. The current study extends previous cross-cultural research to address within-culture individual differences in finger counting habits. Results indicated that Canadian participants demonstrated an additional cognitive load when comparing numbers that require more than one hand to represent, and this pattern of performance is further modulated by whether they typically start counting on their left hand or their right hand. Chinese students typically count on only one hand and so show no such effect, except for an increase in errors, similar to that seen in Canadians, for those whom self-identify as predominantly two-hand counters. Results suggest that the impact of finger counting habits extend beyond cultural experience and concord in predictable ways with differences in number magnitude processing for specific number-digits. We conclude that symbolic number magnitude processing is partially rooted in learned finger-counting habits, consistent with a motor simulation account of embodied numeracy and that argument is supported by both cross-cultural and within-culture differences in finger-counting habits.

scholarly journals Effects of attentional shifts along the vertical axis on number processing: an eye-tracking study with optokinetic stimulation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arianna Felisatti ◽  
Mariagrazia Ranzini ◽  
Elvio Blini ◽  
Matteo Lisi ◽  
Marco Zorzi
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Numerical Cognition ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Distance Effect ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Number Processing ◽  
Numerical Magnitude ◽  
Optokinetic Stimulation ◽  
Comparison Task

Previous studies suggest that associations between numbers and space are mediated by shifts of visuospatial attention along the horizontal axis. In this study, we investigated the effect of vertical shifts of overt attention, induced by optokinetic stimulation (OKS) and monitored through eye-tracking, in two tasks requiring explicit (number comparison) or implicit (parity judgment) processing of number magnitude. Participants were exposed to black-and-white stripes (OKS) that moved vertically (upward or downward) or remained static (control condition). During the OKS, participants were asked to verbally classify auditory one-digit numbers as larger/smaller than 5 (comparison task; Exp. 1) or as odd/even (parity task; Exp. 2). OKS modulated response times in both experiments. In Exp.1, downward attentional displacement increased the Magnitude effect (slower responses for large numbers) and reduced the Distance effect (slower responses for numbers close to the reference). In Exp.2, we observed a parity by magnitude interaction that was amplified by downward OKS. Moreover, eye tracking analyses revealed an influence of number processing on eye movements both in Exp. 1, with eye gaze shifting downwards during the processing of numbers 1-2 as compared to 8-9; and in Exp. 2, with leftward shifts after large even numbers (6,8) and rightward shifts after large odd numbers (7,9). These results provide evidence of bidirectional links between number and space and extend them to the vertical dimension. Moreover, they document the influence of visuo-spatial attention on processing of numerical magnitude, numerical distance and parity. Together, our findings are in line with grounded and embodied accounts of numerical cognition.

The Universal SNARC Effect

2005 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Christoph Nuerk ◽  
Guilherme Wood ◽  
Klaus Willmes
Keyword(s):  
Arabic Numeral ◽  
Number Line ◽  
Snarc Effect ◽  
Auditory Presentation ◽  
Number Word ◽  
Visual Modality ◽  
Magnitude Representation ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Number Magnitude ◽  
The Right

Abstract. It is thought that number magnitude is represented in an abstract and amodal way on a left-to-right oriented mental number line. Major evidence for this idea has been provided by the SNARC effect ( Dehaene, Bossini, & Giraux, 1993 ): responses to relatively larger numbers are faster for the right hand, those to smaller numbers for the left hand, even when number magnitude is irrelevant. The SNARC effect has been used to index automatic access to a central semantic and amodal magnitude representation. However, this assumption of modality independence has never been tested and it remains uncertain if the SNARC effect exists in other modalities in a similar way as in the visual modality. We have examined this question by systematically varying modality/notation (auditory number word, visual Arabic numeral, visual number word, visual dice pattern) in a within-participant design. The SNARC effect was found consistently for all modality/notation conditions, including auditory presentation. The size of the SNARC effect in the auditory condition did not differ from the SNARC effect in any visual condition. We conclude that the SNARC effect is indeed a general index of a central semantic and amodal number magnitude representation.

EXPRESS: Spatial-numerical associations from a novel paradigm support the Mental Number Line account

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110087
Author(s):  
Lauren Aulet ◽  
Sami R Yousif ◽  
Stella Lourenco
Keyword(s):  
Memory Task ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Number Line ◽  
Mental Number Line ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Numerical Magnitude ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Alternative Account ◽  
Subject Design ◽  
Multiple Tasks

Multiple tasks have been used to demonstrate the relation between numbers and space. The classic interpretation of these directional spatial-numerical associations (d-SNAs) is that they are the product of a mental number line (MNL), in which numerical magnitude is intrinsically associated with spatial position. The alternative account is that d-SNAs reflect task demands, such as explicit numerical judgments and/or categorical responses. In the novel ‘Where was The Number?’ task, no explicit numerical judgments were made. Participants were simply required to reproduce the location of a numeral within a rectangular space. Using a between-subject design, we found that numbers, but not letters, biased participants’ responses along the horizontal dimension, such that larger numbers were placed more rightward than smaller numbers, even when participants completed a concurrent verbal working memory task. These findings are consistent with the MNL account, such that numbers specifically are inherently left-to-right oriented in Western participants.

scholarly journals Sharing a mental number line across individuals? The role of body position and empathy in joint numerical cognition

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (7) ◽  
pp. 1732-1740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Hartmann ◽  
Martin H Fischer ◽  
Fred W Mast
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Cognition ◽  
Body Position ◽  
Random Number Generation ◽  
Number Line ◽  
Mental Number Line ◽  
Response Level ◽  
Spatial Reference ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Spatial Reference Frame

A growing body of research shows that the human brain acts differently when performing a task together with another person than when performing the same task alone. In this study, we investigated the influence of a co-actor on numerical cognition using a joint random number generation (RNG) task. We found that participants generated relatively smaller numbers when they were located to the left (vs. right) of a co-actor (Experiment 1), as if the two individuals shared a mental number line and predominantly selected numbers corresponding to their relative body position. Moreover, the mere presence of another person on the left or right side or the processing of numbers from loudspeaker on the left or right side had no influence on the magnitude of generated numbers (Experiment 2), suggesting that a bias in RNG only emerged during interpersonal interactions. Interestingly, the effect of relative body position on RNG was driven by participants with high trait empathic concern towards others, pointing towards a mediating role of feelings of sympathy for joint compatibility effects. Finally, the spatial bias emerged only after the co-actors swapped their spatial position, suggesting that joint spatial representations are constructed only after the spatial reference frame became salient. In contrast to previous studies, our findings cannot be explained by action co-representation because the consecutive production of numbers does not involve conflict at the motor response level. Our results therefore suggest that spatial reference coding, rather than motor mirroring, can determine joint compatibility effects. Our results demonstrate how physical properties of interpersonal situations, such as the relative body position, shape seemingly abstract cognition.

scholarly journals Tracking the continuous dynamics of numerical processing: A brief review and editorial

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Faulkenberry ◽  
Matthias Witte ◽  
Matthias Hartmann
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Cognition ◽  
Mental Arithmetic ◽  
Special Section ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Number Processing ◽  
Hand Tracking ◽  
Single Digit ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Numerical Processing ◽  
Computer Mouse

Many recent studies in numerical cognition have moved beyond the use of purely chronometric techniques in favor of methods which track the continuous dynamics of numerical processing. Two examples of such techniques include eye tracking and hand tracking (or computer mouse tracking). To reflect this increased concentration on continuous methods, we have collected a group of 5 articles that utilize these techniques to answer some contemporary questions in numerical cognition. In this editorial, we discuss the two paradigms and provide a brief review of some of the work in numerical cognition that has profited from the use of these techniques. For both methods, we discuss the past research through the frameworks of single digit number processing, multidigit number processing, and mental arithmetic processing. We conclude with a discussion of the papers that have been contributed to this special section and point to some possible future directions for researchers interested in tracking the continuous dynamics of numerical processing.

scholarly journals Reversing the Manual Digit Bias in Two-Digit Number Comparison

2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Faulkenberry ◽  
Alexander Cruise ◽  
Samuel Shaki
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Cognition ◽  
Number Line ◽  
Number Representation ◽  
Digit Number ◽  
Computer Mouse ◽  
Number Comparison ◽  
Number Representations ◽  
Mouse Movements ◽  
Embodied Representation ◽  
Fixed Standard

Abstract. Though recent work in numerical cognition has supported a strong tie between numerical and spatial representations (e.g., a mental number line), less is known about such ties in multi-digit number representations. Along this line, Bloechle, Huber, and Moeller (2015) found that pointing positions in two-digit number comparison were biased leftward toward the decade digit. Moreover, this bias was reduced in unit-decade incompatible pairs. In the present study, we tracked computer mouse movements as participants compared two-digit numbers to a fixed standard (55). Similar to Bloechle et al. (2015) , we found that trajectories exhibited a leftward bias that was reduced for unit-decade incompatible comparisons. However, when positions of response labels were reversed, the biases reversed. That is, we found a rightward bias for compatible pairs that was reduced for incompatible pairs. This result calls into question a purely embodied representation of place value structure and instead supports a competition model of two-digit number representation.

Spatial-numerical associations from a novel paradigm support the mental number line account

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren S Aulet ◽  
Sami Ryan Yousif ◽  
Stella F. Lourenco
Keyword(s):  
Memory Task ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Number Line ◽  
Mental Number Line ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Numerical Magnitude ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Alternative Account ◽  
Subject Design ◽  
Multiple Tasks

Multiple tasks have been used to demonstrate the relation between numbers and space. The classic interpretation of these directional spatial-numerical associations (d-SNAs) is that they are the product of a mental number line (MNL), in which numerical magnitude is intrinsically associated with spatial position. The alternative account is that d-SNAs reflect task demands, such as explicit numerical judgments and/or categorical responses. In the novel ‘Where was The Number?’ task, no explicit numerical judgments were made. Participants were simply required to reproduce the location of a numeral within a rectangular space. Using a between-subject design, we found that numbers, but not letters, biased participants’ responses along the horizontal dimension, such that larger numbers were placed more rightward than smaller numbers, even when participants completed a concurrent verbal working memory task. These findings are consistent with the MNL account, such that numbers specifically are inherently left-to-right oriented in Western participants.

scholarly journals Visual Number Beats Abstract Numerical Magnitude: Format-dependent Representation of Arabic Digits and Dot Patterns in Human Parietal Cortex

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 1376-1387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Bulthé ◽  
Bert De Smedt ◽  
Hans P. Op de Beeck
Keyword(s):  
Activity Pattern ◽  
Numerical Cognition ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Numerical Magnitude ◽  
Visual Objects ◽  
Arabic Digits ◽  
The One ◽  
Object Cognition

In numerical cognition, there is a well-known but contested hypothesis that proposes an abstract representation of numerical magnitude in human intraparietal sulcus (IPS). On the other hand, researchers of object cognition have suggested another hypothesis for brain activity in IPS during the processing of number, namely that this activity simply correlates with the number of visual objects or units that are perceived. We contrasted these two accounts by analyzing multivoxel activity patterns elicited by dot patterns and Arabic digits of different magnitudes while participants were explicitly processing the represented numerical magnitude. The activity pattern elicited by the digit “8” was more similar to the activity pattern elicited by one dot (with which the digit shares the number of visual units but not the magnitude) compared to the activity pattern elicited by eight dots, with which the digit shares the represented abstract numerical magnitude. A multivoxel pattern classifier trained to differentiate one dot from eight dots classified all Arabic digits in the one-dot pattern category, irrespective of the numerical magnitude symbolized by the digit. These results were consistently obtained for different digits in IPS, its subregions, and many other brain regions. As predicted from object cognition theories, the number of presented visual units forms the link between the parietal activation elicited by symbolic and nonsymbolic numbers. The current study is difficult to reconcile with the hypothesis that parietal activation elicited by numbers would reflect a format-independent representation of number.

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