@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{KeehnerFischer2012, author = {Keehner, Madeleine and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Unusual bodies, uncommon behaviors individual and group differences in embodied cognition in spatial tasks}, series = {Spatial cognition and computation}, volume = {12}, journal = {Spatial cognition and computation}, number = {2-3}, publisher = {Taylor \& Francis Group}, address = {Philadelphia}, issn = {1387-5868}, doi = {10.1080/13875868.2012.659303}, pages = {71 -- 82}, year = {2012}, abstract = {This editorial introduces a set of papers on differential embodiment in spatial tasks. According to the theoretical notion of embodied cognition, our experiences of acting in the world, and the constraints of our sensory and motor systems, strongly shape our cognitive functions. In the current set of papers, the authors were asked to particularly consider idiosyncratic or differential embodied cognition in the context of spatial tasks and processes. In each contribution, differential embodiment is considered from one of two complementary perspectives: either by considering unusual individuals, who have atypical bodies or uncommon experiences of interacting with the world; or by exploring individual differences in the general population that reflect the naturally occurring variability in embodied processes. Our editorial summarizes the contributions to this special issue and discusses the insights they offer. We conclude from this collection of papers that exploring differences in the recruitment and involvement of embodied processes can be highly informative, and can add an extra dimension to our understanding of spatial cognitive functions. Taking a broader perspective, it can also shed light on important theoretical and empirical questions concerning the nature of embodied cognition per se.}, language = {en} } @article{MyachykovScheepersFischeretal.2014, author = {Myachykov, Andriy and Scheepers, Christoph and Fischer, Martin H. and Kessler, Klaus}, title = {TEST: A tropic, embodied, and situated theory of cognition}, series = {Topics in cognitive science}, volume = {6}, journal = {Topics in cognitive science}, number = {3}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1756-8757}, doi = {10.1111/tops.12024}, pages = {442 -- 460}, year = {2014}, abstract = {TEST is a novel taxonomy of knowledge representations based on three distinct hierarchically organized representational features: Tropism, Embodiment, and Situatedness. Tropic representational features reflect constraints of the physical world on the agent's ability to form, reactivate, and enrich embodied (i.e., resulting from the agent's bodily constraints) conceptual representations embedded in situated contexts. The proposed hierarchy entails that representations can, in principle, have tropic features without necessarily having situated and/or embodied features. On the other hand, representations that are situated and/or embodied are likely to be simultaneously tropic. Hence, although we propose tropism as the most general term, the hierarchical relationship between embodiment and situatedness is more on a par, such that the dominance of one component over the other relies on the distinction between offline storage versus online generation as well as on representation-specific properties.}, language = {en} } @article{ApelCangelosiEllisetal.2012, author = {Apel, Jens K. and Cangelosi, Angelo and Ellis, Rob and Goslin, Jeremy and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Object affordance influences instruction span}, series = {Experimental brain research}, volume = {223}, journal = {Experimental brain research}, number = {2}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {New York}, issn = {0014-4819}, doi = {10.1007/s00221-012-3251-0}, pages = {199 -- 206}, year = {2012}, abstract = {We measured memory span for assembly instructions involving objects with handles oriented to the left or right side. Right-handed participants remembered more instructions when objects' handles were spatially congruent with the hand used in forthcoming assembly actions. No such affordance-based memory benefit was found for left-handed participants. These results are discussed in terms of motor simulation as an embodied rehearsal mechanism.}, language = {en} } @unpublished{HartmannFischer2014, author = {Hartmann, Matthias and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Pupillometry: The eyes shed fresh light on the mind}, series = {Current biology}, volume = {24}, journal = {Current biology}, number = {7}, publisher = {Cell Press}, address = {Cambridge}, issn = {0960-9822}, doi = {10.1016/j.cub.2014.02.028}, pages = {R281 -- R282}, year = {2014}, language = {en} } @article{MyachykovCangelosiEllisetal.2015, author = {Myachykov, Andriy and Cangelosi, Angelo and Ellis, Rob and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {The oculomotor resonance effect in spatial-numerical mapping}, series = {Acta psychologica : international journal of psychonomics}, volume = {161}, journal = {Acta psychologica : international journal of psychonomics}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0001-6918}, doi = {10.1016/j.actpsy.2015.09.006}, pages = {162 -- 169}, year = {2015}, abstract = {We investigated automatic Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect in auditory number processing. Two experiments continually measured spatial characteristics of ocular drift at central fixation during and after auditory number presentation. Consistent with the notion of a spatially oriented mental number line, we found spontaneous magnitude-dependent gaze adjustments, both with and without a concurrent saccadic task. This fixation adjustment (1) had a small-number/left-lateralized bias and (2) it was biphasic as it emerged for a short time around the point of lexical access and it received later robust representation around following number onset. This pattern suggests a two-step mechanism of sensorimotor mapping between numbers and space a first-pass bottom-up activation followed by a top-down and more robust horizontal SNARC Our results inform theories of number processing as well as simulation-based approaches to cognition by identifying the characteristics of an oculomotor resonance phenomenon. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.}, language = {en} } @misc{WinterMatlockShakietal.2015, author = {Winter, Bodo and Matlock, Teenie and Shaki, Samuel and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Mental number space in three dimensions}, series = {Neuroscience \& biobehavioral reviews : official journal of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society}, volume = {57}, journal = {Neuroscience \& biobehavioral reviews : official journal of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {0149-7634}, doi = {10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.09.005}, pages = {209 -- 219}, year = {2015}, abstract = {A large number of experimental findings from neuroscience and experimental psychology demonstrated interactions between spatial cognition and numerical cognition. In particular, many researchers posited a horizontal mental number line, where small numbers are thought of as being to the left of larger numbers. This review synthesizes work on the mental association between space and number, indicating the existence of multiple spatial mappings: recent research has found associations between number and vertical space, as well as associations between number and near/far space. We discuss number space in three dimensions with an eye on potential origins of the different number mappings, and how these number mappings fit in with our current knowledge of brain organization and brain-culture interactions. We derive novel predictions and show how this research fits into a general view of cognition as embodied, grounded and situated. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}, language = {en} } @misc{FischerBrugger2011, author = {Fischer, Martin H. and Brugger, Peter}, title = {When digits help digits spatial-numerical associations point to finger counting as prime example of embodied cognition}, series = {Frontiers in psychology}, volume = {2}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00260}, pages = {7}, year = {2011}, abstract = {Spatial numerical associations (SNAs) are prevalent yet their origin is poorly understood. We first consider the possible prime role of reading habits in shaping SNAs and list three observations that argue against a prominent influence of this role: (1) directional reading habits for numbers may conflict with those for non-numerical symbols, (2) short-term experimental manipulations can overrule the impact of decades of reading experience, (3) SNAs predate the acquisition of reading. As a promising alternative, we discuss behavioral, neuroscientific, and neuropsychological evidence in support of finger counting as the most likely initial determinant of SNAs. Implications of this "manumerical cognition" stance for the distinction between grounded, embodied, and situated cognition are discussed.}, language = {en} } @article{PinhasShakiFischer2015, author = {Pinhas, Michal and Shaki, Samuel and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Addition goes where the big numbers are: evidence for a reversed operational momentum effect}, series = {Psychonomic bulletin \& review : a journal of the Psychonomic Society}, volume = {22}, journal = {Psychonomic bulletin \& review : a journal of the Psychonomic Society}, number = {4}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {New York}, issn = {1069-9384}, doi = {10.3758/s13423-014-0786-z}, pages = {993 -- 1000}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Number processing evokes spatial biases, both when dealing with single digits and in more complex mental calculations. Here we investigated whether these two biases have a common origin, by examining their flexibility. Participants pointed to the locations of arithmetic results on a visually presented line with an inverted, right-to-left number arrangement. We found directionally opposite spatial biases for mental arithmetic and for a parity task administered both before and after the arithmetic task. We discuss implications of this dissociation in our results for the task-dependent cognitive representation of numbers.}, language = {en} } @unpublished{ShakiFischer2015, author = {Shaki, Samuel and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Newborn chicks need no number tricks. Commentary: Number-space mapping in the newborn chick resembles humans' mental number line}, series = {Frontiers in human neuroscienc}, volume = {9}, journal = {Frontiers in human neuroscienc}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1662-5161}, doi = {10.3389/fnhum.2015.00451}, pages = {3}, year = {2015}, language = {en} }