@article{ShakiFischerGoebel2012,
  author    = {Shaki, Samuel and Fischer, Martin H. and Goebel, Silke M.},
  title     = {Direction counts A comparative study of spatially directional counting biases in cultures with different reading directions},
  series = {Journal of experimental child psychology},
  volume    = {112},
  journal   = {Journal of experimental child psychology},
  number    = {2},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {San Diego},
  issn      = {0022-0965},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.jecp.2011.12.005},
  pages     = {275 -- 281},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {Western adults associate small numbers with left space and large numbers with right space. Where does this pervasive spatial-numerical association come from? In this study, we first recorded directional counting preferences in adults with different reading experiences (left to right, right to left, mixed, and illiterate) and observed a clear relationship between reading and counting directions. We then recorded directional counting preferences in pre-schoolers and elementary school children from three of these reading cultures (left to right, right to left, and mixed). Culture-specific counting biases existed before reading acquisition in children as young as 3 years and were subsequently modified by early reading experience. Together, our results suggest that both directional counting and scanning activities contribute to number-space associations.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{GoebelMcCrinkFischeretal.2018,
  author    = {G{\"o}bel, Silke M. and McCrink, Koleen and Fischer, Martin H. and Shaki, Samuel},
  title     = {Observation of directional storybook reading influences young children's counting direction},
  series = {Journal of experimental child psychology},
  volume    = {166},
  journal   = {Journal of experimental child psychology},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {New York},
  issn      = {0022-0965},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.jecp.2017.08.001},
  pages     = {49 -- 66},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {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.},
  language  = {en}
}