Numbers are associated with different types of spatial information depending on the task

Dijck, Jean-Philippe van; Gevers, Wim; Fias, Wim

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2009.08.005

Cited by 141 publications

(199 citation statements)

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“…This effect seems to depend on relative, and not absolute, numerical magnitude, such that the same numbers (e.g., 4 and 5) can be associated with left-hand responses, when used as the smallest numbers in the presented range (e.g., 4-9), and with the right-hand responses, when used as the largest numbers in the presented range (e.g., 0-5; Dehaene et al, 1993;Fias, Brysbaert, Geypens, & d'Ydewalle, 1996). Moreover, the SNARC effect can be easily reversed (or 4 NUMBER RANGE EFFECT diluted) by manipulating the task instructions (e.g., Bächtold, Baumüller, & Brugger, 1998), incompatible spatial mapping/positioning (e.g., Fischer, Mills, & Shaki, 2010;Fischer, Shaki, & Cruise, 2009;Notebaert, Gevers, Verguts, & Fias, 2006;Shaki & Fischer, 2008) and memory requirements or load (e.g., Lindemann, Abolafia, Pratt, & Bekkering, 2008;2011;van Dijck, Gevers, & Fias, 2009). …”

Section: Number Range Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zooming in and out from the mental number line: Evidence for a number range effect.

Pinhas¹,

Pothos²,

Tzelgov³

2013

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

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This is the unspecified version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Extensive evidence shows how number representations can be changed by certain contexts or task requirements. It is worth noting that the insight of a malleable mental number line sharply contrasts with a prior intuition that numbers would be represented in a purely propositional way. Permanent repository linkResearchers have identified some key characteristics for the mental representation of numbers, such as condensed scaling and left-to-right spatial orientation. The relevant empirical evidence concerns three effects: the distance effect (i.e., better discrimination of numbers that are further apart than when they are close), the size effect (i.e., better performance for small than large numbers; Moyer & Landauer, 1967) In contrast, the flexibility of the SNARC effect has been repeatedly observed. This effect seems to depend on relative, and not absolute, numerical magnitude, such that the same numbers (e.g., 4 and 5) can be associated with left-hand responses, when used as the smallest numbers in the presented range (e.g., 4-9), and with the right-hand responses, when used as the largest numbers in the presented range (e.g., 0-5; Dehaene et al., 1993;Fias, Brysbaert, Geypens, & d'Ydewalle, 1996). Moreover, the SNARC effect can be easily reversed (or In line with these findings, it seems that short-term numerical representations are constructed online, during task execution, in accordance with the specific characteristics of the task at hand. Therefore, the same numbers can be considered small or large and evoke contrasting directions in space, depending on the putative mental number line, which is generated by the task. Such "working representations" appear to be particularly affected by task demands when people are intentionally asked to process numerical magnitudes, compared to situations in which the numerical magnitudes are processed automatically (i.e., not as part of the task requirements, e.g., Tzelgov, 1997;Tzelgov & Ganor-Stern, 2005).However, even in the latter case, there seems to be a context-dependent ranking of numerical magnitudes, at least in the sense of which number is automatically perceived to be the smallest (Pinhas & Tzelgov, 2012). Consistently with these ideas, a recent model by Cohen Kadosh and Walsh (2009) proposed that numerical processing starts with non-abstract numerical representations in the parietal cortex. These representations are assumed to be automatic in the sense that they are not affected by task demands. At a later stage, abstract representations may emerge in accordance with the task requirements in the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with training effects, working memory and strategy application (see also Gilbert & Burgess 2008;Tudusciuc & Nieder, 2007).The objective of the present study was to explore whether the granularity or resolution of the evoked mental number line can also be changed by context. Consider a numerical comparison task...

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Section: Number Range Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zooming in and out from the mental number line: Evidence for a number range effect.

Pinhas¹,

Pothos²,

Tzelgov³

2013

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

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“…Herrera, Macizo, and Semenza (2008) found that a visuospatial WM load abolished the SNARC effect in a number comparison task. Van Dijck, Gevers and Fias (2009) A plausible hypothesis is that serial position in WM rather than number magnitude is associated with space. After all, the capacity to order information is a crucial characteristic of WM (e.g.…”

Section: The Snarc Effect: Driven By Serial Position In Working Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

The temporary nature of number—space interactions.

Fias¹,

Dijck²

2016

Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology / Revue canadienne

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It is commonly accepted that the mental representation and processing of number and of space are tightly linked. This is evident from studies showing relations between math ability and visuospatial skill. Also, math instruction and education rely strongly on visuospatial tools and strategies. The dominant explanation for these number-space interactions is that the mental representation of numbers takes the form of a mental number line with numbers positioned in ascending order according to our reading habits. A long-standing debate is whether the link between numbers and space can be considered as evidence for a spatial number representation in long-term semantic memory, or whether this spatial frame is a temporary representation that emerges in working memory (WM) during task execution. Here we give an overview of our recent work that indicates that basic number processing tasks do not operate on a long-term spatial memory representation, but on a representation constructed in serial order WM, where the elements are spatially coded as a function of their ordinal position in the memorized sequence.Implications for a new theoretical framework linking serial order WM and basic number processing are discussed.

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“…In a series of experiments, van Dijck and colleagues pointed to the importance of available working memory resources for the occurrence of the SNARC-effect (van Dijck, Gevers, & Fias, 2009). In a subsequent study it was shown that information stored in working memory is spatially coded as a function of its ordinal position in the sequence and that the SNARC-effect draws upon this mechanism (van Dijck & Fias, 2011).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-spatial neglect for the mental number line

et al. 2011

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A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t A within-subject double dissociation between physical and number-space neglect is described This double dissociation extended to ordinal sequences and was non-spatial in natureThe number-space neglect was associated with a position-based deficit in working memory Pointers towards a new theory for the relation between numbers and space are discussed *Research HighlightsPage 2 of 58 A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 3 Non-Spatial Neglect for the Mental Number LineIn 1880 Galton published two papers in which he described people who report vivid spatial experiences when processing numbers, forming what he called "natural lines of thought" (Galton, 1880a(Galton, , 1880b. This observation supported the intuitive idea that the processing of number and space are tightly linked. It is only in the last two decades, however, that the relation between numbers and space has become the subject of systematic investigation and now, about 100 years after Galton"s classical observation, it is widely accepted that the processing of numbers is intimately related to the processing of spatial information at both functional and anatomical levels (e.g. Dehaene, Piazza, Pinel, & Cohen, 2003;Fias & Fischer, 2005;Hubbard, Piazza, Pinel, & Dehaene, 2005; Umilta, Priftis, & Zorzi, 2007).One of the most convincing and robust phenomena that demonstrate the interaction between numbers and space is the SNARC-effect. When asked to indicate whether a number is odd or even with a left or right key press, participants tend to react faster to relatively small numbers (e.g. 1) with their left hand than with their right hand side, while they are faster to relatively large numbers (e.g. 9) when the responses are executed with the right hand side. Dehaene et al. (1993) called this finding the spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect and postulated that it was attributable to the mental organization of numbers, taking the form of a horizontally oriented mental number line (MNL) with small numbers located on the left and large numbers on the right. Since then, this effect has been replicated in a wide variety of experimental tasks, for example, magnitude comparison (Brysbaert, 1995) or phoneme monitoring (Fias, Brysbaert, Geypens, & d'Ydewalle, 1996), for a re...

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Numbers are associated with different types of spatial information depending on the task

Cited by 141 publications

References 24 publications

Zooming in and out from the mental number line: Evidence for a number range effect.

Zooming in and out from the mental number line: Evidence for a number range effect.

The temporary nature of number—space interactions.

Non-spatial neglect for the mental number line

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