@article{D'AscenzoLugliNicolettietal.2020, author = {D'Ascenzo, Stefania and Lugli, Luisa and Nicoletti, Roberto and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Assessing orienting of attention to understand the time course of mental calculation}, series = {Cognitive processing : international quarterly of cognitive science}, volume = {21}, journal = {Cognitive processing : international quarterly of cognitive science}, number = {4}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Heidelberg ; Berlin}, issn = {1612-4782}, doi = {10.1007/s10339-020-00970-y}, pages = {493 -- 500}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Number processing induces spatial attention shifts to the left or right side for small or large numbers, respectively. This spatial-numerical association (SNA) extends to mental calculation, such that subtractions and additions induce left or right biases, respectively. However, the time course of activating SNAs during mental calculation is unclear. Here, we addressed this issue by measuring visual position discrimination during auditory calculation. Thirty-four healthy adults listened in each trial to five successive elements of arithmetic facts (first operand, operator, second operand, equal and result) and verbally classified their correctness. After each element (except for the result), a fixation dot moved equally often to either the left or right side and participants pressed left or right buttons to discriminate its movement direction (four times per trial). First and second operand magnitude (small/large), operation (addition/subtraction), result correctness (right/wrong) and movement direction (left/right) were balanced across 128 trials. Manual reaction times of dot movement discriminations were considered in relation to previous arithmetic elements. We found no evidence of early attentional shifts after first operand and operator presentation. Discrimination performance was modulated consistent with SNAs after the second operand, suggesting that attentional shifts occur once there is access to all elements necessary to complete an arithmetic operation. Such late-occurring attention shifts may reflect a combination of multiple element-specific biases and confirm their functional role in mental calculation.}, language = {en} } @article{ReikeSchwarz2017, author = {Reike, Dennis and Schwarz, Wolfgang}, title = {Exploring the origin of the number-size congruency effect}, series = {Attention, perception, \& psychophysics : AP\&P ; a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.}, volume = {79}, journal = {Attention, perception, \& psychophysics : AP\&P ; a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {New York}, issn = {1943-3921}, doi = {10.3758/s13414-016-1267-4}, pages = {383 -- 388}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Physical size modulates the efficiency of digit comparison, depending on whether the relation of numerical magnitude and physical size is congruent or incongruent (Besner \& Coltheart, Neuropsychologia, 17, 467-472, 1979), the number-size congruency effect (NSCE). In addition, Henik and Tzelgov (Memory \& Cognition, 10, 389-395, 1982) first reported an NSCE for the reverse task of comparing the physical size of digits such that the numerical magnitude of digits modulated the time required to compare their physical sizes. Does the NSCE in physical comparisons simply reflect a number-mediated bias mechanism related to making decisions and selecting responses about the digit's sizes? Alternatively, or in addition, the NSCE might indicate a true increase in the ability to discriminate small and large font sizes when these sizes are congruent with the digit's symbolic numerical meaning, over and above response bias effects. We present a new research design that permits us to apply signal detection theory to a task that required observers to judge the physical size of digits. Our results clearly demonstrate that the NSCE cannot be reduced to mere response bias effects, and that genuine sensitivity gains for congruent number-size pairings contribute to the NSCE.}, language = {en} } @article{ShakiFischer2018, author = {Shaki, Samuel and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Deconstructing spatial-numerical associations}, series = {Cognition : international journal of cognitive science}, volume = {175}, journal = {Cognition : international journal of cognitive science}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0010-0277}, doi = {10.1016/j.cognition.2018.02.022}, pages = {109 -- 113}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Spatial-numerical associations (SNAs) have been studied extensively in the past two decades, always requiring either explicit magnitude processing or explicit spatial-directional processing. This means that the typical finding of an association of small numbers with left or bottom space and of larger numbers with right or top space could be due to these requirements and not the conceptual representation of numbers. The present study compares explicit and implicit magnitude processing in an implicit spatial-directional task and identifies SNAs as artefacts of either explicit magnitude processing or explicit spatial-directional processing; they do not reveal spatial conceptual links. This finding requires revision of current accounts of the relationship between numbers and space.}, language = {en} } @article{SixtusFischerLindemann2017, author = {Sixtus, Elena and Fischer, Martin H. and Lindemann, Oliver}, title = {Finger posing primes number comprehension}, series = {Cognitive processing : international quarterly of cognitive science}, volume = {18}, journal = {Cognitive processing : international quarterly of cognitive science}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Heidelberg}, issn = {1612-4782}, doi = {10.1007/s10339-017-0804-y}, pages = {237 -- 248}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Canonical finger postures, as used in counting, activate number knowledge, but the exact mechanism for this priming effect is unclear. Here we dissociated effects of visual versus motor priming of number concepts. In Experiment 1, participants were exposed either to pictures of canonical finger postures (visual priming) or actively produced the same finger postures (motor priming) and then used foot responses to rapidly classify auditory numbers (targets) as smaller or larger than 5. Classification times revealed that manually adopted but not visually perceived postures primed magnitude classifications. Experiment 2 obtained motor priming of number processing through finger postures also with vocal responses. Priming only occurred through canonical and not through non-canonical finger postures. Together, these results provide clear evidence for motor priming of number knowledge. Relative contributions of vision and action for embodied numerical cognition and the importance of canonicity of postures are discussed.}, language = {en} } @article{WiemersBekkeringLindemann2014, author = {Wiemers, Michael and Bekkering, Harold and Lindemann, Oliver}, title = {Spatial interferences in mental arithmetic: Evidence from the motion-arithmetic compatibility effect}, series = {The quarterly journal of experimental psychology}, volume = {67}, journal = {The quarterly journal of experimental psychology}, number = {8}, publisher = {Routledge, Taylor \& Francis Group}, address = {Abingdon}, issn = {1747-0218}, doi = {10.1080/17470218.2014.889180}, pages = {1557 -- 1570}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Recent research on spatial number representations suggests that the number space is not necessarily horizontally organized and might also be affected by acquired associations between magnitude and sensory experiences in vertical space. Evidence for this claim is, however, controversial. The present study now aims to compare vertical and horizontal spatial associations in mental arithmetic. In Experiment 1, participants solved addition and subtraction problems and indicated the result verbally while moving their outstretched right arm continuously left-, right-, up-, or downwards. The analysis of the problem-solving performances revealed a motion-arithmetic compatibility effect for spatial actions along both the horizontal and the vertical axes. Performances in additions was impaired while making downward compared to upward movements as well as when moving left compared to right and vice versa in subtractions. In Experiment 2, instead of being instructed to perform active body movements, participants calculated while the problems moved in one of the four relative directions on the screen. For visual motions, only the motion-arithmetic compatibility effect for the vertical dimension could be replicated. Taken together, our findings provide first evidence for an impact of spatial processing on mental arithmetic. Moreover, the stronger effect of the vertical dimension supports the idea that mental calculations operate on representations of numerical magnitude that are grounded in a vertically organized mental number space.}, language = {en} } @article{FischerShaki2014, author = {Fischer, Martin H. and Shaki, Samuel}, title = {Spatial associations in numerical cognition-From single digits to arithmetic}, series = {The quarterly journal of experimental psychology}, volume = {67}, journal = {The quarterly journal of experimental psychology}, number = {8}, publisher = {Routledge, Taylor \& Francis Group}, address = {Abingdon}, issn = {1747-0218}, doi = {10.1080/17470218.2014.927515}, pages = {1461 -- 1483}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The literature on spatial associations during number processing is dominated by the SNARC (spatial-numerical association of response codes) effect. We describe spatial biases found for single digits and pairs of numbers, first in the "original" speeded parity task and then extending the scope to encompass different tasks, a range of measures, and various populations. Then we review theoretical accounts before surveying the emerging evidence for similar spatial associations during mental arithmetic. We conclude that the mental number line hypothesis and an embodied approach are useful frameworks for further studies.}, language = {en} } @article{ShakiFischerGoebel2012, author = {Shaki, Samuel and Fischer, Martin H. and Goebel, Silke M.}, title = {Direction counts A comparative study of spatially directional counting biases in cultures with different reading directions}, series = {Journal of experimental child psychology}, volume = {112}, journal = {Journal of experimental child psychology}, number = {2}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {San Diego}, issn = {0022-0965}, doi = {10.1016/j.jecp.2011.12.005}, pages = {275 -- 281}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Western adults associate small numbers with left space and large numbers with right space. Where does this pervasive spatial-numerical association come from? In this study, we first recorded directional counting preferences in adults with different reading experiences (left to right, right to left, mixed, and illiterate) and observed a clear relationship between reading and counting directions. We then recorded directional counting preferences in pre-schoolers and elementary school children from three of these reading cultures (left to right, right to left, and mixed). Culture-specific counting biases existed before reading acquisition in children as young as 3 years and were subsequently modified by early reading experience. Together, our results suggest that both directional counting and scanning activities contribute to number-space associations.}, language = {en} } @article{Fischer2012, author = {Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {A hierarchical view of grounded, embodied, and situated numerical cognition}, series = {Cognitive processing : international quarterly of cognitive science}, volume = {13}, journal = {Cognitive processing : international quarterly of cognitive science}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Heidelberg}, issn = {1612-4782}, doi = {10.1007/s10339-012-0477-5}, pages = {S161 -- S164}, year = {2012}, abstract = {There is much recent interest in the idea that we represent our knowledge together with the sensory and motor features that were activated during its acquisition. This paper reviews the evidence for such "embodiment" in the domain of numerical cognition, a traditional stronghold of abstract theories of knowledge representation. The focus is on spatial-numerical associations, such as the SNARC effect (small numbers are associated with left space, larger numbers with right space). Using empirical evidence from behavioral research, I first describe sensory and motor biases induced by SNARC, thus identifying numbers as embodied concepts. Next, I propose a hierarchical relationship between grounded, embodied, and situated aspects of number knowledge. This hierarchical conceptualization helps to understand the variety of SNARC-related findings and yields testable predictions about numerical cognition. I report several such tests, ranging from cross-cultural comparisons of horizontal and vertical SNARC effects (Shaki and Fischer in J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 38(3): 804-809, 2012) to motor cortical activation studies in adults with left- and right-hand counting preferences (Tschentscher et al. in NeuroImage 59: 3139-3148, 2012). It is concluded that the diagnostic features for each level of the proposed hierarchical knowledge representation, together with the spatial associations of numbers, make the domain of numerical knowledge an ideal testing ground for embodied cognition research.}, language = {en} } @article{ShakiFischer2013, author = {Shaki, Samuel and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Your neighbors define your value a study of spatial bias in number comparison}, series = {Acta psychologica : international journal of psychonomics}, volume = {142}, journal = {Acta psychologica : international journal of psychonomics}, number = {3}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0001-6918}, doi = {10.1016/j.actpsy.2013.01.004}, pages = {308 -- 313}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Several chronometric biases in numerical cognition have informed our understanding of a mental number line (MNL). Complementing this approach, we investigated spatial performance in a magnitude comparison task. Participants located the larger or smaller number of a pair on a horizontal line representing the interval from 0 to 10. Experiments 1 and 2 used only number pairs one unit apart and found that digits were localized farther to the right with "select larger" instructions than with "select smaller" instructions. However, when numerical distance was varied (Experiment 3), digits were localized away from numerically near neighbors. This repulsion effect reveals context-specific distortions in number representation not previously noticed with chronometric measures.}, language = {en} }