scholarly journals The association between number magnitude and space is dependent on notation: Evidence from an adaptive perceptual orientation task

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-54
Author(s):  
Tianwei Gong ◽  
Baichen Li ◽  
Limei Teng ◽  
Zijun Zhou ◽  
Xuefei Gao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
Snarc Effect ◽  
Number Word ◽  
Reaction Time Difference ◽  
Number Words ◽  
Number Magnitude ◽  
Spatial Response ◽  
Orientation Task ◽  
Arabic Digits ◽  
Perceptual Orientation

Research on adults' numerical abilities suggests that number representations are spatially oriented. This association of numbers with spatial response is referred to as the SNARC (i.e., spatial–numerical association of response codes) effect. The notation-independence hypothesis of numeric processing predicts that the SNARC effect will not vary with notation (e.g., Arabic vs. number word). To test such assumption, the current study introduced an adaptive experimental procedure based on a simple perceptual orientation task that can automatically smooth out the mean reaction time difference between Arabic digits and traditional Chinese number. We found that the SNARC effect interacted with notation, showing a SNARC effect for Arabic digits, but not for verbal number words. The results of this study challenged the commonly held view that notation does not affect numerical processes associated with spatial representations. We introduced a parallel model to explain the notation-dependent SNARC effect in the perceptual orientation judgment task.

scholarly journals Semantic Access in Number Word Translation

2008 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wouter Duyck ◽  
Marc Brysbaert
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Number Word ◽  
Magnitude Effect ◽  
Number Words ◽  
Number Magnitude ◽  
Forward Translation ◽  
Semantic Access ◽  
Lexical Similarity ◽  
Word Translation ◽  
Dual Route Model

Abstract. The revised hierarchical model of bilingualism (e.g., Kroll & Stewart, 1994 ) assumes that second language (L2) words primarily access semantics through their first language (L1) translation equivalents. Consequently, backward translation from L2 to L1 should not imply semantic access but occurs through lexical wordform associations. However, recent research with Dutch-French bilinguals showed that both backward and forward translation of number words yields a semantic number magnitude effect ( Duyck & Brysbaert, 2004 ), providing evidence for strong form-to-meaning mappings of L2 number words. In two number-word translation experiments with Dutch-English-German trilinguals, the present study investigated whether semantic access in L1-L2 and L1-L3 number-word translation depends on lexical similarity of the languages involved. We found that backward translation from these more similar language pairs to L1 still yields a semantic magnitude effect, whereas forward translation does not, in contrast with the Dutch-French results of Duyck and Brysbaert (2004) . We argue against a dual route model of word translation and suggest that the degree of semantic activation in translation depends on lexical form overlap between translation equivalents.

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 Automaticity in processing spatial-numerical associations: Evidence from a perceptual orientation judgment task of Arabic digits in frames

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. e0229130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuyuan Yu ◽  
Baichen Li ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Tianwei Gong ◽  
Xiaomei Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
Orientation Judgment ◽  
Arabic Digits ◽  
Perceptual Orientation

It Takes Just One Word to Quash a SNARC

2009 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 361-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin H. Fischer ◽  
Samuel Shaki ◽  
Alexander Cruise
Keyword(s):  
Control Experiment ◽  
Classification Performance ◽  
Snarc Effect ◽  
Reading Habit ◽  
Reading Habits ◽  
Number Concepts ◽  
Number Words ◽  
Russian Word ◽  
Hebrew Word ◽  
Arabic Digits

Our directional reading habit seems to contribute to the widely reported association of small numbers with left space and larger numbers with right space (the spatial-numerical association of response codes, SNARC, effect). But how can this association be so flexible when reading habits are not? To address this question, we asked bilingual Russian-Hebrew readers to classify numbers by parity and alternated the number format from trial to trial between written words and Arabic digits. The number words were randomly printed in either Cyrillic or Hebrew script, thus inducing left-to-right or right-to-left reading, respectively. Classification performance indicated that the digits were spatially mapped when they followed a Russian word but not when they followed a Hebrew word. An auditory control experiment revealed left-to-right SNARC effects with different strengths in both languages. These results suggest that the SNARC effect reflects recent spatial experiences, cross-modal associations, and long-standing directional habits but not an attribute of the number concepts themselves.

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.

Lexical and semantic connections in number words translation

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-190
Author(s):  
AMPARO HERRERA
Keyword(s):  
Facilitatory Effect ◽  
Number Word ◽  
Lower Range ◽  
Number Words ◽  
Forward Translation ◽  
Arabic Digits ◽  
Word Translation ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
L1 English ◽  
Naming Tasks

The present study investigated the influence of lexical links and conceptual mediation in number word translation. In four experiments, a semantic blocking paradigm was used with numerical stimuli and stimuli from other non-number categories. The performance of Spanish L1–English L2 bilinguals was examined in backward and forward translation (Experiment 1 and 3), in naming Arabic digits and pictures (Experiment 2A) and in reading L1 and L2 words (Experiment 2B). The blocked context produced a facilitatory effect for numerical stimuli in the lower range. This result contrasts with the interference effect observed for stimuli from non-number categories in translation and naming tasks. These results are interpreted to mean that the translation of number words, particularly those in the lower range of the numeric sequence, takes place with a large influence of the lexical connections. It supports the suggestions that the influence of processing routes depends on the type of items.

scholarly journals The mental representation of non-numerical quantifiers: The Spatial-Linguistic Association of Response Codes (SLARC) effect.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARTINA ABBONDANZA ◽  
Luca Rinaldi ◽  
Francesca Foppolo ◽  
Marco Marelli
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representation ◽  
Spatial Representation ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Snarc Effect ◽  
Number Word ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Number Words ◽  
Word Task ◽  
The Right ◽  
Intense Debate

How quantifiers are represented in the human mind is still a topic of intense debate. Seminal studies have addressed the issue of how a subclass of quantifiers, i.e. number words, is spatially coded displaying the SNARC (Spatial-numerical Association of Response Codes) effect; yet, none of these studies have explored the spatial representation of non-numerical quantifiers such as “some” or “many”. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether non-numerical quantifiers are spatially coded in the human mind. We administered two typical comparison tasks to 52 participants: the first task involved non-numerical quantifiers; the second task involved number words. Results showed a response-side compatibility effect for both number words and non-numerical quantifiers, suggesting that both types of quantifiers are encoded in a spatial format; quantifiers referring to “small” quantities are responded to faster with the left hand and quantifiers referring to “large” quantities are responded to faster with the right hand. We labeled this effect for non-numerical quantifiers as the SLARC (Spatial-Linguistic Association of Response Codes) effect. Notably, we found that the SNARC and the SLARC effects were strictly related to each other, namely more a participant was sensitive to the SNARC effect in the number word task, the more a SLARC effect was detectable in the non-numerical quantifier task. These findings add evidence to the tendency of humans to align magnitude information on a mental line that is coded from left to right. This article is in press in The Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition.

scholarly journals Cross-Format Integration of Auditory Number Words and Visual-Arabic Digits: An ERP Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Finke ◽  
Ferenc Kemény ◽  
Francina J. Clayton ◽  
Chiara Banfi ◽  
Anna F. Steiner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Number Processing ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Number Word ◽  
Numerical Identity ◽  
Numerical Information ◽  
Number Words ◽  
Semantic Access ◽  
Arabic Digits

Converting visual-Arabic digits to auditory number words and vice versa is seemingly effortless for adults. However, it is still unclear whether this process takes place automatically and whether accessing the underlying magnitude representation is necessary during this process. In two event-related potential (ERP) experiments, adults were presented with identical (e.g., “one” and 1) or non-identical (e.g., “one” and 9) number pairs, either unimodally (two visual-Arabic digits) or cross-format (an auditory number word and a visual-Arabic digit). In Experiment 1 (N=17), active task demands required numerical judgments, whereas this was not the case in Experiment 2 (N=19). We found pronounced early ERP markers of numerical identity unimodally in both experiments. In the cross-format conditions, however, we only observed late neural correlates of identity and only if the task required semantic number processing (Experiment 1). These findings suggest that unimodal pairs of digits are automatically integrated, whereas cross-format integration of numerical information occurs more slowly and involves semantic access.

scholarly journals Inversion effects on mental arithmetic in English- and Polish-speaking adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-103
Author(s):  
Carolin Annette Lewis ◽  
Julia Bahnmueller ◽  
Marta Wesierska ◽  
Korbinian Moeller ◽  
Silke Melanie Göbel
Keyword(s):  
Mental Arithmetic ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Place Value ◽  
Number Word ◽  
Problem Size ◽  
Number Range ◽  
Number Words ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Addition Problem ◽  
The Cost

In some languages the order of tens and units in number words is inverted compared with the symbolic digital notation (e.g., German 23 → “ dreiundzwanzig,” literally: “ three-and-twenty”). In other languages only teen-numbers are inverted (e.g., English 17 → “ seventeen”; Polish 17 → “ siedemnaście” literally “ seventeen”). Previous studies have focused on between group comparisons of inverted and non-inverted languages and showed that number word inversion impairs performance on basic numerical tasks and arithmetic. In two independent experiments, we investigated whether number word inversion affects addition performance within otherwise non-inverted languages (Exp. 1: English, Exp. 2: Polish). In particular, we focused on the influence of inverted ( I; English: teen-numbers ⩾ 13, Polish: numbers 11–19) and non-inverted ( N) summands with sums between 13 and 39. Accordingly, three categories of addition problems were created: N + N, N + I, and I + I with problem size matched across categories. Across both language groups, we observed that problems with results in the 20 and 30 number range were responded to faster when only non-inverted summands were part of the problems as opposed to problems with one or two inverted summands. In line with this, the cost of a carry procedure was the largest for two inverted summands. The results support the notion that both language-specific and language-invariant aspects contribute to addition problem-solving. In particular though, regarding language-specific aspects, the results indicate that inverted number word formation of teens influences place-value processing of Arabic digits even in otherwise non-inverted languages.

The Number Language used by Preschool Children and their Mothers in the Context of Cooking

1996 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Young-Loveridge
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Mathematics Learning ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Number Word ◽  
Word Use ◽  
Number Words ◽  
Degree Of Control ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Play Context

The present study was designed to explore the spontaneous use of number language by preschool children and their mothers in the context of cooking. The results show that preschool children use a variety of number words in this context. Mothers made substantially greater use of number words than did their children, possibly because the cooking context required a greater degree of control by the adult than would have been the case in a free-play context. Many instances of number-word use by mothers and by children went unacknowledged by their conversational partners. Although the relationship between children's number word use and that of their mothers was relatively weak (r=.34), there was a considerably stronger relationship between the numbers of reciprocal numeracy episodes and children's number-word use (r=.59). These findings support the idea that contingent responsiveness by adults is important for enhancing children's mathematics learning.

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