Implicit Spatial-Numerical Associations: Negative Numbers and the Role of Counting Direction
- It has been debated whether negative number concepts are cognitively represented on the same mental number line as positive number concepts. The present study reviews this debate and identifies limitations of previous studies. A method with nonspatial stimuli and responses is applied to overcome these limitations and to document a systematic implicit association of negative numbers with left space, thus indicating a leftward extension of the mental number line. Importantly, this result only held for left-to-right counting adults. Implications for the experiential basis of abstract conceptual knowledge are discussed.
| Author details: | Martin H. FischerORCiDGND, Samuel ShakiORCiD |
|---|---|
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000369 |
| ISSN: | 0096-1523 |
| ISSN: | 1939-1277 |
| Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28345942 |
| Title of parent work (English): | Journal of experimental psychology : Human perception and performance |
| Publisher: | American Psychological Association |
| Place of publishing: | Washington |
| Publication type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Year of first publication: | 2017 |
| Publication year: | 2017 |
| Release date: | 2020/04/20 |
| Tag: | IAT; SNARC effect; counting direction; embodied cognition; negative numbers |
| Volume: | 43 |
| Number of pages: | 5 |
| First page: | 639 |
| Last Page: | 643 |
| Funding institution: | DFG [Fi-1915/2-1] |
| Organizational units: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Strukturbereich Kognitionswissenschaften / Department Psychologie |
| Peer review: | Referiert |
| Institution name at the time of the publication: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Psychologie |
