TY - JOUR A1 - Miklashevsky, Alex A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Lindemann, Oliver T1 - Spatial-numerical associations without a motor response? Grip force says ‘Yes’ JF - Acta Psychologica N2 - In numerical processing, the functional role of Spatial-Numerical Associations (SNAs, such as the association of smaller numbers with left space and larger numbers with right space, the Mental Number Line hypothesis) is debated. Most studies demonstrate SNAs with lateralized responses, and there is little evidence that SNAs appear when no response is required. We recorded passive holding grip forces in no-go trials during number processing. In Experiment 1, participants performed a surface numerical decision task (“Is it a number or a letter?”). In Experiment 2, we used a deeper semantic task (“Is this number larger or smaller than five?”). Despite instruction to keep their grip force constant, participants' spontaneous grip force changed in both experiments: Smaller numbers led to larger force increase in the left than in the right hand in the numerical decision task (500–700 ms after stimulus onset). In the semantic task, smaller numbers again led to larger force increase in the left hand, and larger numbers increased the right-hand holding force. This effect appeared earlier (180 ms) and lasted longer (until 580 ms after stimulus onset). This is the first demonstration of SNAs with passive holding force. Our result suggests that (1) explicit motor response is not a prerequisite for SNAs to appear, and (2) the timing and strength of SNAs are task-dependent. (216 words). KW - SNARC KW - Mental number line KW - Number processing KW - Embodied cognition KW - Grip force KW - Motor system Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103791 SN - 1873-6297 VL - 231 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Miklashevsky, Alex A1 - Lindemann, Oliver A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - The force of numbers BT - Investigating manual signatures of embodied number processing JF - Frontiers in human neuroscience / Frontiers Research Foundation N2 - The study has two objectives: (1) to introduce grip force recording as a new technique for studying embodied numerical processing; and (2) to demonstrate how three competing accounts of numerical magnitude representation can be tested by using this new technique: the Mental Number Line (MNL), A Theory of Magnitude (ATOM) and Embodied Cognition (finger counting-based) account. While 26 healthy adults processed visually presented single digits in a go/no-go n-back paradigm, their passive holding forces for two small sensors were recorded in both hands. Spontaneous and unconscious grip force changes related to number magnitude occurred in the left hand already 100-140 ms after stimulus presentation and continued systematically. Our results support a two-step model of number processing where an initial stage is related to the automatic activation of all stimulus properties whereas a later stage consists of deeper conscious processing of the stimulus. This interpretation generalizes previous work with linguistic stimuli and elaborates the timeline of embodied cognition. We hope that the use of grip force recording will advance the field of numerical cognition research. KW - ATOM KW - embodied cognition KW - finger counting KW - grip force KW - mental number KW - line KW - number processing KW - numerical cognition Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2020.590508 SN - 1662-5161 VL - 14 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne ER - TY - GEN A1 - Miklashevsky, Alex A. A1 - Lindemann, Oliver A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Think of the future in the right way BT - Processing time activates the motor system T2 - Cognitive processing : international quarterly of cognitive science Y1 - 2018 SN - 1612-4782 SN - 1612-4790 VL - 19 SP - S46 EP - S46 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Krause, Florian A1 - Meyer, Marlene A1 - Bekkering, Harold A1 - Hunnius, Sabine A1 - Lindemann, Oliver T1 - Interaction between perceptual and motor magnitudes in early childhood JF - Cognitive development N2 - Recent research has suggested that all types of size-related information are linked by a generalised system that codes for domain-independent magnitudes. This generalized system is further suggested to be acquired through everyday sensorimotor experiences with contingencies of size-related information in the real world. The aim of the present study was to investigate the existence of this common representation and its impact on the coupling of perception and action in early childhood. According to an embodied view on magnitude representation, an association between perceived magnitude information and size-related motor features, such as applied motor force, should emerge as soon as motor control is sufficiently developed. This hypothesis was tested in 2.5- to 3-year-old toddlers by engaging them in a computer game-like experimental task in which they were required to move objects placed on a platform upwards by pressing a button. The amount of objects was varied systematically (small amount: 3 vs. large amount: 15) and the force children applied on the button while moving the objects was recorded. Importantly, the amount of applied force was not relevant for successfully playing the game. The analysis of the peak force revealed that motor responses were executed more forcefully when children were presented with a large amount of objects compared to a small amount, irrespective of the toddler’s motor abilities which were evaluated by two additional measures (force control and general fine motor skills). This general effect of perceived magnitude information on the task-irrelevant applied motor force confirms our notion that a link between perceptual and motor magnitudes exists already in early childhood and provides new evidence for a sensorimotor grounding of magnitude concepts. KW - Perception-action coupling KW - Generalised magnitude system KW - Embodied cognition KW - motor development Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2018.11.001 SN - 0885-2014 SN - 1879-226X VL - 49 SP - 11 EP - 19 PB - Elsevier Science CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sixtus, Elena A1 - Lindemann, Oliver A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Stimulating numbers BT - signatures of finger counting in numerosity processing JF - Psychological research : an international journal of perception, attention, memory, and action N2 - Finger counting is one of the first steps in the development of mature number concepts. With a one-to-one correspondence of fingers to numbers in Western finger counting, fingers hold two numerical meanings: one is based on the number of fingers raised and the second is based on their ordinal position within the habitual finger counting sequence. This study investigated how these two numerical meanings of fingers are intertwined with numerical cognition in adults. Participants received tactile stimulation on their fingertips of one hand and named either the number of fingers stimulated (2, 3, or 4 fingers; Experiment 1) or the number of stimulations on one fingertip (2, 3, or 4 stimulations; Experiment 2). Responses were faster and more accurate when the set of stimulated fingers corresponded to finger counting habits (Experiment 1) and when the number of stimulations matched the ordinal position of the stimulated finger (Experiment 2). These results show that tactile numerosity perception is affected by individual finger counting habits and that those habits give numerical meaning to single fingers. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-018-0982-y SN - 0340-0727 SN - 1430-2772 VL - 84 IS - 1 SP - 152 EP - 167 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sixtus, Elena A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Lindemann, Oliver T1 - Finger posing primes number comprehension JF - Cognitive processing : international quarterly of cognitive science N2 - 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. KW - Embodied cognition KW - Finger counting KW - Numerical cognition KW - Priming Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-017-0804-y SN - 1612-4782 SN - 1612-4790 VL - 18 SP - 237 EP - 248 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wiemers, Michael A1 - Bekkering, Harold A1 - Lindemann, Oliver T1 - Two attributes of number meaning BT - numerical associations with visual space and size exist in parallel JF - Experimental Psychology N2 - Many studies demonstrated interactions between number processing and either spatial codes (effects of spatial-numerical associations) or visual size-related codes (size-congruity effect). However, the interrelatedness of these two number couplings is still unclear. The present study examines the simultaneous occurrence of space- and size-numerical congruency effects and their interactions both within and across trials, in a magnitude judgment task physically small or large digits were presented left or right from screen center. The reaction times analysis revealed that space- and size-congruency effects coexisted in parallel and combined additively. Moreover, a selective sequential modulation of the two congruency effects was found. The size-congruency effect was reduced after size incongruent trials. The space-congruency effect, however, was only affected by the previous space congruency. The observed independence of spatial-numerical and within magnitude associations is interpreted as evidence that the two couplings reflect Different attributes of numerical meaning possibly related to orginality and cardinality. KW - Gratton effect KW - shared magnitude representation KW - size-congruity effect KW - spatial-numerical associations KW - number processing Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000366 SN - 1618-3169 SN - 2190-5142 VL - 64 IS - 4 SP - 253 EP - 261 PB - Hogrefe CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nazir, Tatjana A. A1 - Hrycyk, Lianna A1 - Moreau, Quentin A1 - Frak, Victor A1 - Cheylus, Anne A1 - Ott, Laurent A1 - Lindemann, Oliver A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Paulignan, Yves A1 - Delevoye-Turrell, Yvonne T1 - A simple technique to study embodied language processes BT - the grip force sensor JF - Behavior research methods : a journal of the Psychonomic Society N2 - Research in cognitive neuroscience has shown that brain structures serving perceptual, emotional, and motor processes are also recruited during the understanding of language when it refers to emotion, perception, and action. However, the exact linguistic and extralinguistic conditions under which such language-induced activity in modality-specific cortex is triggered are not yet well understood. The purpose of this study is to introduce a simple experimental technique that allows for the online measure of language-induced activity in motor structures of the brain. This technique consists in the use of a grip force sensor that captures subtle grip force variations while participants listen to words and sentences. Since grip force reflects activity in motor brain structures, the continuous monitoring of force fluctuations provides a fine-grained estimation of motor activity across time. In other terms, this method allows for both localization of the source of language-induced activity to motor brain structures and high temporal resolution of the recorded data. To facilitate comparison of the data to be collected with this tool, we present two experiments that describe in detail the technical setup, the nature of the recorded data, and the analyses (including justification about the data filtering and artifact rejection) that we applied. We also discuss how the tool could be used in other domains of behavioral research. KW - Grip-force sensor KW - Embodiment KW - Language KW - Motor system Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-015-0696-7 SN - 1554-351X SN - 1554-3528 VL - 49 SP - 61 EP - 73 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wiemers, Michael A1 - Bekkering, Harold A1 - Lindemann, Oliver T1 - Is more always up? BT - evidence for a preference of hand-based associations over vertical number mappings JF - Journal of cognitive psychology N2 - It has been argued that the association of numbers and vertical space plays a fundamental role for the understanding of numerical concepts. However, convincing evidence for an association of numbers and vertical bimanual responses is still lacking. The present study tests the vertical Spatio-Numerical-Association-of-Response-Codes (SNARC) effect in a number classification task by comparing anatomical hand-based and spatial associations. A mixed effects model of linear spatial-numerical associations revealed no evidence for a vertical but clear support for an anatomical SNARC effect. Only if the task requirements prevented participants from using a number-hand association due to frequently alternating hand-to-button assignments, numbers were associated with the vertical dimension. Taken together, the present findings question the importance of vertical associations for the conceptual understanding of numerical magnitude as hypothesised by some embodied approaches to number cognition and suggest a preference for ego-over geocentric reference frames for the mapping of numbers onto space. KW - SNARC effect KW - embodied numerosity KW - numerical cognition Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2017.1302451 SN - 2044-5911 SN - 2044-592X VL - 29 IS - 5 SP - 642 EP - 652 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Krause, Florian A1 - Bekkering, Harold A1 - Pratt, Jay A1 - Lindemann, Oliver T1 - Interaction between numbers and size during visual search JF - Psychological research : an international journal of perception, attention, memory, and action N2 - The current study investigates an interaction between numbers and physical size (i.e. size congruity) in visual search. In three experiments, participants had to detect a physically large (or small) target item among physically small (or large) distractors in a search task comprising single-digit numbers. The relative numerical size of the digits was varied, such that the target item was either among the numerically large or small numbers in the search display and the relation between numerical and physical size was either congruent or incongruent. Perceptual differences of the stimuli were controlled by a condition in which participants had to search for a differently coloured target item with the same physical size and by the usage of LCD-style numbers that were matched in visual similarity by shape transformations. The results of all three experiments consistently revealed that detecting a physically large target item is significantly faster when the numerical size of the target item is large as well (congruent), compared to when it is small (incongruent). This novel finding of a size congruity effect in visual search demonstrates an interaction between numerical and physical size in an experimental setting beyond typically used binary comparison tasks, and provides important new evidence for the notion of shared cognitive codes for numbers and sensorimotor magnitudes. Theoretical consequences for recent models on attention, magnitude representation and their interactions are discussed. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-016-0771-4 SN - 0340-0727 SN - 1430-2772 VL - 81 SP - 664 EP - 677 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER -