TY - JOUR A1 - Borghi, Anna M. A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Abstract concepts: external influences, internal constraints, and methodological issues JF - Psychological research : an international journal of perception, attention, memory, and action N2 - There is a longstanding and widely held misconception about the relative remoteness of abstract concepts from concrete experiences. This review examines the current evidence for external influences and internal constraints on the processing, representation, and use of abstract concepts, like truth, friendship, and number. We highlight the theoretical benefit of distinguishing between grounded and embodied cognition and then ask which roles do perception, action, language, and social interaction play in acquiring, representing and using abstract concepts. By reviewing several studies, we show that they are, against the accepted definition, not detached from perception and action. Focussing on magnitude-related concepts, we also discuss evidence for cultural influences on abstract knowledge and explore how internal processes such as inner speech, metacognition, and inner bodily signals (interoception) influence the acquisition and retrieval of abstract knowledge. Finally, we discuss some methodological developments. Specifically, we focus on the importance of studies that investigate the time course of conceptual processing and we argue that, because of the paramount role of sociality for abstract concepts, new methods are necessary to study concepts in interactive situations. We conclude that bodily, linguistic, and social constraints provide important theoretical limitations for our theories of conceptual knowledge. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-022-01698-4 SN - 0340-0727 SN - 1430-2772 VL - 86 SP - 2370 EP - 2388 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Borghi, Anna M. A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Concrete constraints on abstract concepts-editorial JF - Psychological research : an international journal of perception, attention, memory, and action N2 - This special issue, "Concrete constraints of abstract concepts", addresses the role of concrete determinants, both external and internal to the human body, in acquisition, processing and use of abstract concepts while at the same time presenting to the readers an overview of methods used to assess their representation. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-022-01685-9 SN - 0340-0727 SN - 1430-2772 VL - 86 SP - 2366 EP - 2369 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - GEN A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Systematic spatial distortion of quantitative estimates T2 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Magnitude estimation has been studied since the beginnings of scientific psychology and constitutes a fundamental aspect of human behavior. Yet, it has apparently never been noticed that estimates depend on the spatial arrangement used. We tested 167 adults in three experiments to show that the spatial layout of stimuli and responses systematically distorts number estimation, length production, and weight reproduction performance. The direction of distortion depends on the observer's counting habits, but does not seem to reflect the use of spatially associated number concepts. Our results imply that all quantitative estimates are contaminated by a "spell of space" whenever stimuli or responses are spatially distributed. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 846 KW - associations KW - numbers KW - habits KW - spaces Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-545457 SN - 1866-8364 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mioni, Giovanna A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Shaki, Samuel T1 - Heuristics and biases in the mental manipulation of magnitudes BT - Evidence from length and time production JF - Quarterly journal of experimental psychology / published in association with Experimental Psychology Society N2 - There is a debate about whether and why we overestimate addition and underestimate subtraction results (Operational Momentum or OM effect). Spatial-attentional accounts of OM compete with a model which postulates that OM reflects a weighted combination of multiple arithmetic heuristics and biases (AHAB). This study addressed this debate with the theoretically diagnostic distinction between zero problems (e.g., 3 + 0, 3 - 0) and non-zero problems (e.g., 2 + 1, 4 - 1) because AHAB, in contrast to all other accounts, uniquely predicts reverse OM for the latter problem type. In two tests (line-length production and time production), participants indeed produced shorter lines and under-estimated time intervals in non-zero additions compared with subtractions. This predicted interaction between operation and problem type extends OM to non-spatial magnitudes and highlights the strength of AHAB regarding different problem types and modalities during the mental manipulation of magnitudes. They also suggest that OM reflects methodological details, whereas reverse OM is the more representative behavioural signature of mental arithmetic. KW - Heuristics and biases KW - mental arithmetic KW - operational momentum KW - SNARC KW - effect Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021820967663 SN - 1747-0218 SN - 1747-0226 VL - 74 IS - 3 SP - 536 EP - 547 PB - SAGE Publishing CY - Thousand Oaks, CA ER - TY - JOUR A1 - D'Ascenzo, Stefania A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Lugli, Luisa T1 - Number to me, space to you BT - joint representation of spatial-numerical associations JF - Psychonomic bulletin & review : a journal of the Psychonomic Society N2 - Recent work has shown that number concepts activate both spatial and magnitude representations. According to the social co-representation literature which has shown that participants typically represent task components assigned to others together with their own, we asked whether explicit magnitude meaning and explicit spatial coding must be present in a single mind, or can be distributed across two minds, to generate a spatial-numerical congruency effect. In a shared go/no-go task that eliminated peripheral spatial codes, we assigned explicit magnitude processing to participants and spatial processing to either human or non-human co-agents. The spatial-numerical congruency effect emerged only with human co-agents. We demonstrate an inter-personal level of conceptual congruency between space and number that arises from a shared conceptual representation not contaminated by peripheral spatial codes. Theoretical implications of this finding for numerical cognition are discussed. KW - Social co-representation KW - Conceptual congruency effect KW - Numerical KW - cognition KW - SNARC effect Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-021-02013-9 SN - 1069-9384 SN - 1531-5320 VL - 29 IS - 2 SP - 485 EP - 491 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Felisatti, Arianna A1 - Aagten-Murphy, David A1 - Laubrock, Jochen A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - The brain’s asymmetric frequency tuning BT - asymmetric behavior originates from asymmetric perception JF - Symmetry / Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI) N2 - To construct a coherent multi-modal percept, vertebrate brains extract low-level features (such as spatial and temporal frequencies) from incoming sensory signals. However, because frequency processing is lateralized with the right hemisphere favouring low frequencies while the left favours higher frequencies, this introduces asymmetries between the hemispheres. Here, we describe how this lateralization shapes the development of several cognitive domains, ranging from visuo-spatial and numerical cognition to language, social cognition, and even aesthetic appreciation, and leads to the emergence of asymmetries in behaviour. We discuss the neuropsychological and educational implications of these emergent asymmetries and suggest future research approaches. KW - asymmetry KW - global KW - local KW - spatial frequencies KW - temporal frequencies KW - embodied cognition Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/sym12122083 SN - 2073-8994 VL - 12 IS - 12 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wood, Danielle A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Turn the beat around: Commentary on "Slow and fast beat sequences are represented differently through space" (De Tommaso & Prpic, 2020, in Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics) JF - Attention, perception, & psychophysics : AP&P ; a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc. N2 - There has been increasing interest in the spatial mapping of various perceptual and cognitive magnitudes, such as expanding the spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect into domains outside of numerical cognition. Recently, De Tommaso and Prpic (Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 82, 2765-2773, 2020) reported in this journal that only fast tempos over 104 beats per minute have spatial associations, with more right-sided associations and faster responses for faster tempos. After discussing the role of perceived loudness and possible response strategies, we propose and recommend methodological improvements for further research. KW - Distance effect KW - Music cognition KW - Pitch KW - magnitude association KW - Semantic KW - congruity effect KW - SMARC KW - Sound recognition KW - Spatial cognition Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-021-02247-8 SN - 1943-3921 SN - 1943-393X VL - 83 IS - 4 SP - 1518 EP - 1521 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Felisatti, Arianna A1 - Laubrock, Jochen A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - A biological foundation for spatial–numerical associations BT - the brain's asymmetric frequency tuning JF - Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences N2 - "Left" and "right" coordinates control our spatial behavior and even influence abstract thoughts. For number concepts, horizontal spatial-numerical associations (SNAs) have been widely documented: we associate few with left and many with right. Importantly, increments are universally coded on the right side even in preverbal humans and nonhuman animals, thus questioning the fundamental role of directional cultural habits, such as reading or finger counting. Here, we propose a biological, nonnumerical mechanism for the origin of SNAs on the basis of asymmetric tuning of animal brains for different spatial frequencies (SFs). The resulting selective visual processing predicts both universal SNAs and their context-dependence. We support our proposal by analyzing the stimuli used to document SNAs in newborns for their SF content. As predicted, the SFs contained in visual patterns with few versus many elements preferentially engage right versus left brain hemispheres, respectively, thus predicting left-versus rightward behavioral biases. Our "brain's asymmetric frequency tuning" hypothesis explains the perceptual origin of horizontal SNAs for nonsymbolic visual numerosities and might be extensible to the auditory domain. KW - hemispheric asymmetry KW - numerical cognition KW - SNARC effect KW - spatial KW - frequency tuning KW - spatial-numerical associations KW - spatial vision Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14418 SN - 0077-8923 SN - 1749-6632 VL - 1477 IS - 1 SP - 44 EP - 53 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Nothing to dance about: unclear evidence for symbolic representations and numerical competence in honeybees BT - a comment on: symbolic representation of numerosity by honeybees (Apis mellifera): matching characters to small quantities JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London : B, Biological sciences Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2840 SN - 0962-8452 SN - 1471-2954 VL - 287 IS - 1925 PB - Royal Society CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Systematic spatial distortion of quantitative estimates JF - Psychological research N2 - Magnitude estimation has been studied since the beginnings of scientific psychology and constitutes a fundamental aspect of human behavior. Yet, it has apparently never been noticed that estimates depend on the spatial arrangement used. We tested 167 adults in three experiments to show that the spatial layout of stimuli and responses systematically distorts number estimation, length production, and weight reproduction performance. The direction of distortion depends on the observer's counting habits, but does not seem to reflect the use of spatially associated number concepts. Our results imply that all quantitative estimates are contaminated by a "spell of space" whenever stimuli or responses are spatially distributed. Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-020-01390-5 SN - 0340-0727 SN - 1430-2772 VL - 85 IS - 6 SP - 2177 EP - 2185 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fischer, Martin A1 - Winter, Bodo A1 - Felisatti, Arianna A1 - Myachykov, Andriy A1 - Jeglinski-Mende, Melinda A. A1 - Shaki, Samuel T1 - More Instructions Make Fewer Subtractions JF - Frontiers in Psychology N2 - Research on problem solving offers insights into how humans process task-related information and which strategies they use (Newell and Simon, 1972; Öllinger et al., 2014). Problem solving can be defined as the search for possible changes in one's mind (Kahneman, 2003). In a recent study, Adams et al. (2021) assessed whether the predominant problem solving strategy when making changes involves adding or subtracting elements. In order to do this, they used several examples of simple problems, such as editing text or making visual patterns symmetrical, either in naturalistic settings or on-line. The essence of the authors' findings is a strong preference to add rather than subtract elements across a diverse range of problems, including the stabilizing of artifacts, creating symmetrical patterns, or editing texts. More specifically, they succeeded in demonstrating that “participants were less likely to identify advantageous subtractive changes when the task did not (vs. did) cue them to consider subtraction, when they had only one opportunity (vs. several) to recognize the shortcomings of an additive search strategy or when they were under a higher (vs. lower) cognitive load” (Adams et al., 2021, p. 258). Addition and subtraction are generally defined as de-contextualized mathematical operations using abstract symbols (Russell, 1903/1938). Nevertheless, understanding of both symbols and operations is informed by everyday activities, such as making or breaking objects (Lakoff and Núñez, 2000; Fischer and Shaki, 2018). The universal attribution of “addition bias” or “subtraction neglect” to problem solving activities is perhaps a convenient shorthand but it overlooks influential framing effects beyond those already acknowledged in the report and the accompanying commentary (Meyvis and Yoon, 2021). Most importantly, while Adams et al.'s study addresses an important issue, their very method of verbally instructing participants, together with lack of control over several known biases, might render their findings less than conclusive. Below, we discuss our concerns that emerged from the identified biases, namely those regarding the instructions and the experimental materials. Moreover, we refer to research from mathematical cognition that provides new insights into Adams et al.'s findings. KW - problem solving KW - addition KW - subtraction KW - cognitive bias KW - SNARC Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720616 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 12 SP - 1 EP - 3 PB - Frontiers Media SA CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - GEN A1 - Fischer, Martin A1 - Winter, Bodo A1 - Felisatti, Arianna A1 - Myachykov, Andriy A1 - Jeglinski-Mende, Melinda A. A1 - Shaki, Samuel T1 - More Instructions Make Fewer Subtractions T2 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Research on problem solving offers insights into how humans process task-related information and which strategies they use (Newell and Simon, 1972; Öllinger et al., 2014). Problem solving can be defined as the search for possible changes in one's mind (Kahneman, 2003). In a recent study, Adams et al. (2021) assessed whether the predominant problem solving strategy when making changes involves adding or subtracting elements. In order to do this, they used several examples of simple problems, such as editing text or making visual patterns symmetrical, either in naturalistic settings or on-line. The essence of the authors' findings is a strong preference to add rather than subtract elements across a diverse range of problems, including the stabilizing of artifacts, creating symmetrical patterns, or editing texts. More specifically, they succeeded in demonstrating that “participants were less likely to identify advantageous subtractive changes when the task did not (vs. did) cue them to consider subtraction, when they had only one opportunity (vs. several) to recognize the shortcomings of an additive search strategy or when they were under a higher (vs. lower) cognitive load” (Adams et al., 2021, p. 258). Addition and subtraction are generally defined as de-contextualized mathematical operations using abstract symbols (Russell, 1903/1938). Nevertheless, understanding of both symbols and operations is informed by everyday activities, such as making or breaking objects (Lakoff and Núñez, 2000; Fischer and Shaki, 2018). The universal attribution of “addition bias” or “subtraction neglect” to problem solving activities is perhaps a convenient shorthand but it overlooks influential framing effects beyond those already acknowledged in the report and the accompanying commentary (Meyvis and Yoon, 2021). Most importantly, while Adams et al.'s study addresses an important issue, their very method of verbally instructing participants, together with lack of control over several known biases, might render their findings less than conclusive. Below, we discuss our concerns that emerged from the identified biases, namely those regarding the instructions and the experimental materials. Moreover, we refer to research from mathematical cognition that provides new insights into Adams et al.'s findings. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 763 KW - problem solving KW - addition KW - subtraction KW - cognitive bias KW - SNARC Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-550086 SN - 1866-8364 VL - 12 SP - 1 EP - 3 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Pinhas, Michal A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Heuristics and biases in mental arithmetic BT - revisiting and reversing operational momentum JF - Thinking & Reasoning N2 - Mental arithmetic is characterised by a tendency to overestimate addition and to underestimate subtraction results: the operational momentum (OM) effect. Here, motivated by contentious explanations of this effect, we developed and tested an arithmetic heuristics and biases model that predicts reverse OM due to cognitive anchoring effects. Participants produced bi-directional lines with lengths corresponding to the results of arithmetic problems. In two experiments, we found regular OM with zero problems (e.g., 3+0, 3-0) but reverse OM with non-zero problems (e.g., 2+1, 4-1). In a third experiment, we tested the prediction of our model. Our results suggest the presence of at least three competing biases in mental arithmetic: a more-or-less heuristic, a sign-space association and an anchoring bias. We conclude that mental arithmetic exhibits shortcuts for decision-making similar to traditional domains of reasoning and problem-solving. KW - Heuristics KW - mental arithmetic KW - mental number line KW - operational momentum KW - problem-solving Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/13546783.2017.1348987 SN - 1354-6783 SN - 1464-0708 VL - 24 IS - 2 SP - 138 EP - 156 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Göbel, Silke M. A1 - McCrink, Koleen A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Shaki, Samuel T1 - Observation of directional storybook reading influences young children’s counting direction JF - Journal of experimental child psychology N2 - Even before formal schooling, children map numbers onto space in a directional manner. The origin of this preliterate spatial–numerical association is still debated. We investigated the role of enculturation for shaping the directionality of the association between numbers and space, focusing on counting behavior in 3- to 5-year-old preliterate children. Two studies provide evidence that, after observing reading from storybooks (left-to-right or right-to-left reading) children change their counting direction in line with the direction of observed reading. Just observing visuospatial directional movements had no such effect on counting direction. Complementarily, we document that book illustrations, prevalent in children’s cultures, exhibit directionality that conforms to the direction of a culture’s written language. We propose that shared book reading activates spatiotemporal representations of order in young children, which in turn affect their spatial representation of numbers. KW - Counting direction KW - Cross-cultural KW - Mental number line KW - Reading KW - Spatial-numerical association KW - Preschool children Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2017.08.001 SN - 0022-0965 SN - 1096-0457 VL - 166 SP - 49 EP - 66 PB - Elsevier CY - New York ER - TY - GEN A1 - Jeglinski-Mende, Melinda A. A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Rezension zu: Varma, Sashank ; Schwartz, Daniel L.: The mental representation of integers : an abstract-to-concrete shift in the understanding of mathematical concepts. - Cognition. - 121 (2011), 3. - S. 363 - 385 T2 - Frontiers in psychology KW - cognitive development KW - mental number line KW - negative numbers KW - embodied cognition KW - abstract concepts Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00209 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 9 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Deconstructing spatial-numerical associations JF - Cognition : international journal of cognitive science N2 - 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. KW - Go/no-go task KW - Implicit association task KW - Numerical cognition KW - SNARC effect Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2018.02.022 SN - 0010-0277 SN - 1873-7838 VL - 175 SP - 109 EP - 113 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Shaki, Samuel T1 - Number concepts: abstract and embodied JF - Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London : B, Biological sciences N2 - Numerical knowledge, including number concepts and arithmetic procedures, seems to be a clear-cut case for abstract symbol manipulation. Yet, evidence from perceptual and motor behaviour reveals that natural number knowledge and simple arithmetic also remain closely associated with modal experiences. Following a review of behavioural, animal and neuroscience studies of number processing, we propose a revised understanding of psychological number concepts as grounded in physical constraints, embodied in experience and situated through task-specific intentions. The idea that number concepts occupy a range of positions on the continuum between abstract and modal conceptual knowledge also accounts for systematic heuristics and biases in mental arithmetic, thus inviting psycho-logical approaches to the study of the mathematical mind. KW - embodied cognition KW - mental arithmetic KW - mental number line KW - numerical cognition KW - SNARC effect Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0125 SN - 0962-8436 SN - 1471-2970 VL - 373 IS - 1752 PB - Royal Society CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Shaki, Samuel T1 - How to make talks less boring T2 - Nature : the international weekly journal of science Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-00153-6 SN - 0028-0836 SN - 1476-4687 VL - 565 IS - 7739 SP - 294 EP - 294 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Commentary on: Elizabeth H. Toomarian; Edward M. Hubbard: On the genesis of spatial-numerical associations : evolutionary and cultural factors co-construct the mental number line. - In: Neuroscience & biobehavioral reviews. - 90 (2018), S. 184 - 199 T2 - Neuroscience & biobehavioral reviews : official journal of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.10.002 SN - 0149-7634 SN - 1873-7528 VL - 95 SP - 189 EP - 190 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - GEN A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Commentary on: E. H. Toomarian ; E. M. Hubbard, On the genesis of spatial-numerical associations: Evolutionary and cultural factors co-construct the mental number line. - (Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. - vol 95, 2018, pg 189 - 190) T2 - Neuroscience & biobehavioral reviews : official journal of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.12.018 SN - 0149-7634 SN - 1873-7528 VL - 98 SP - 335 EP - 335 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER -