Stimulating numbers
- 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 countingFinger 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.…
| Author details: | Elena SixtusORCiDGND, Oliver LindemannORCiD, Martin H. FischerORCiDGND |
|---|---|
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-018-0982-y |
| ISSN: | 0340-0727 |
| ISSN: | 1430-2772 |
| Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29344725 |
| Title of parent work (English): | Psychological research : an international journal of perception, attention, memory, and action |
| Subtitle (English): | signatures of finger counting in numerosity processing |
| Publisher: | Springer |
| Place of publishing: | Heidelberg |
| Publication type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Date of first publication: | 2018/01/17 |
| Publication year: | 2018 |
| Release date: | 2023/03/21 |
| Volume: | 84 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Number of pages: | 16 |
| First page: | 152 |
| Last Page: | 167 |
| Funding institution: | DFG German Research Foundation (DFG) European Commission [Fi-1915/2 -1] |
| Organizational units: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Strukturbereich Kognitionswissenschaften / Department Psychologie |
| DDC classification: | 1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 15 Psychologie / 150 Psychologie |
| Peer review: | Referiert |
