A sensorimotor perspective on numerical cognition

Sixtus, Elena; Krause, Florian; Lindemann, Oliver; Fischer, Martin H.

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2023.01.002

Cited by 26 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 102 publications

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“…This is in line with the suggestive idea proposed by Walsh, 2003 of a sensory magnitude system, encoding abstract quantities such as space, time and number, to guide planning and execution of actions. It is also in line with more recent proposal suggesting that the acquisition of number meaning is deeply grounded in sensorimotor experiences ( Ranzini et al, 2022 ; Sixtus et al, 2023 ). This is the first study showing sensorimotor channels for the transformation of numbers into action sequences in humans, and many questions remain open.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Sensorimotor mechanisms selective to numerosity derived from individual differences

Anobile,

Petrizzo,

Paiardini

et al. 2024

eLife

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We have previously shown that after few seconds of adaptation by finger-tapping, the perceived numerosity of spatial arrays and temporal sequences of visual objects displayed near the tapping region is increased or decreased, implying the existence of a sensorimotor numerosity system (Anobile et al., 2016). To date, this mechanism has been evidenced only by adaptation. Here we extend our finding by leveraging on a well-established covariance technique, used to unveil and characterize “channels” for basic visual features such as colour, motion, contrast, and spatial frequency. Participants were required to press rapidly a key a specific number of times, without counting. We then correlated the precision of reproduction for various target number presses between participants. The results showed high positive correlations for nearby target numbers, scaling down with numerical distance, implying tuning selectivity. Factor analysis identified two factors, one for low and the other for higher numbers. Principal component analysis revealed two bell-shaped covariance channels, peaking at different numerical values. Two control experiments ruled out the role of non-numerical strategies based on tapping frequency and response duration. These results reinforce our previous reports based on adaptation, and further suggest the existence of at least two sensorimotor number channels responsible for translating symbolic numbers into action sequences.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Sensorimotor mechanisms selective to numerosity derived from individual differences

Anobile,

Petrizzo,

Paiardini

et al. 2024

eLife

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“…The notion that ordinal meaning is grounded by relative position in ranking-space, deviates from the proposal by Sixtus et al (2023). Whereas they argue for meaning to derive from 'ordinality concepts' in long-term memory, we propose meaning to be actively constructed in the moment.…”

Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 75%

“…Number comprehension is critical for being a successful member of society. Recently, Sixtus et al ( 2023 ) proposed a sensorimotor grounding perspective in which number comprehension emerges from the independently grounded concepts of magnitude, ordinality, and cardinality. This perspective integrates the empirical state-of-the-art with core elements from classical theories such as the Triple Code Model and ATOM, rendering an integrative breakthrough in numerical cognition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, earlier items in a sequence systematically trigger a relative leftward bias as compared to later items (e.g., Previtali et al, 2010;Van Dijck et al, 2013;Hartmann et al, 2021;Sahan et al, 2021). As such, it is assumed that ordinal context is maintained by spontaneously mapping items onto a mental line in a configuration that reflects the order of items (Abrahamse et al, 2014(Abrahamse et al, , 2017Sixtus et al, 2023).Here we conceive of the mental line as a low-dimensional ranking-space that serves mental coordination for goal-directed cognition and behavior, linked to more general literatures on working memory (Oberauer and Hein, 2012…”

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confidence: 99%

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Ranking-space: magnitude makes sense through spatially scaffolded ranking

Abrahamse

Dijck

2023

Front. Psychol.

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Constructing ordinal meaningWorking with arbitrary (and formally non-spatial) item sequences robustly interacts with (external) spatial processing. Specifically, earlier items in a sequence systematically trigger a relative leftward bias as compared to later items (e.g., Previtali et al., 2010;Van Dijck et al., 2013;Hartmann et al., 2021;Sahan et al., 2021). As such, it is assumed that ordinal context is maintained by spontaneously mapping items onto a mental line in a configuration that reflects the order of items (Abrahamse et al., 2014(Abrahamse et al., , 2017Sixtus et al., 2023).Here we conceive of the mental line as a low-dimensional ranking-space that serves mental coordination for goal-directed cognition and behavior, linked to more general literatures on working memory (Oberauer and Hein, 2012

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“…For example, right-handers have been found to make faster responses to positive emotional words with their right hands, while in left-handers, this pattern is reversed (Casasanto, 2009 ), supporting the notion of spatial mapping of affective semantics. Another example is the influence of breathing rhythms on processing quantities, leading to the perception and production of larger numbers after inhaling compared to exhaling (Belli et al, 2021 ), in line with the framework of linking numerical cognition to the physical experience of magnitude (Sixtus et al, 2023 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Keeping track of time: Horizontal spatial biases for hours, days, and months

Malyshevskaya,

Miklashevsky,

Fischer

et al. 2023

Mem Cogn

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In many Western cultures, the processing of temporal words related to the past and to the future is associated with left and right space, respectively – a phenomenon known as the horizontal Mental Time Line (MTL). While this mapping is apparently quite ubiquitous, its regularity and consistency across different types of temporal concepts remain to be determined. Moreover, it is unclear whether such spatial mappings are an essential and early constituent of concept activation. In the present study, we used words denoting time units at different scales (hours of the day, days of the week, months of the year) associated with either left space (e.g., 9 a.m., Monday, February) or right space (e.g., 8 p.m., Saturday, November) as cues in a line bisection task. Fifty-seven healthy adults listened to temporal words and then moved a mouse cursor to the perceived midpoint of a horizontally presented line. We measured movement trajectories, initial line intersection coordinates, and final bisection response coordinates. We found movement trajectory displacements for left- vs. right-biasing hour and day cues. Initial line intersections were biased specifically by month cues, while final bisection responses were biased specifically by hour cues. Our findings offer general support to the notion of horizontal space-time associations and suggest further investigation of the exact chronometry and strength of this association across individual time units.

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A sensorimotor perspective on numerical cognition

Cited by 26 publications

References 102 publications

Sensorimotor mechanisms selective to numerosity derived from individual differences

Sensorimotor mechanisms selective to numerosity derived from individual differences

Ranking-space: magnitude makes sense through spatially scaffolded ranking

Keeping track of time: Horizontal spatial biases for hours, days, and months

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