@article{MyachykovChapmanFischer2017, author = {Myachykov, Andriy and Chapman, Ashley J. and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Cross-representational interactions}, series = {Frontiers in psychology}, volume = {7}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, pages = {7}, year = {2017}, abstract = {A crucial question facing cognitive science concerns the nature of conceptual representations as well as the constraints on the interactions between them. One specific question we address in this paper is what makes cross-representational interplay possible? We offer two distinct theoretical scenarios: according to the first scenario, co-activated knowledge representations interact with the help of an interface established between them via congruent activation in a mediating third-party general cognitive mechanism, e.g., attention. According to the second scenario, co-activated knowledge representations interact due to an overlap between their features, for example when they share a magnitude component. First, we make a case for cross representational interplay based on grounded and situated theories of cognition. Second, we discuss interface-based interactions between distinct (i.e., non-overlapping) knowledge representations. Third, we discuss how co-activated representations may share their architecture via partial overlap. Finally, we outline constraints regarding the flexibility of these proposed mechanisms.}, language = {en} } @misc{HartmannMastFischer2015, author = {Hartmann, Matthias and Mast, Fred W. and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Spatial biases during mental arithmetic}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {426}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-406504}, pages = {8}, year = {2015}, abstract = {While the influence of spatial-numerical associations in number categorization tasks has been well established, their role in mental arithmetic is less clear. It has been hypothesized that mental addition leads to rightward and upward shifts of spatial attention (along the "mental number line"), whereas subtraction leads to leftward and downward shifts. We addressed this hypothesis by analyzing spontaneous eye movements during mental arithmetic. Participants solved verbally presented arithmetic problems (e.g., 2 + 7, 8-3) aloud while looking at a blank screen. We found that eye movements reflected spatial biases in the ongoing mental operation: Gaze position shifted more upward when participants solved addition compared to subtraction problems, and the horizontal gaze position was partly determined by the magnitude of the operands. Interestingly, the difference between addition and subtraction trials was driven by the operator (plus vs. minus) but was not influenced by the computational process. Thus, our results do not support the idea of a mental movement toward the solution during arithmetic but indicate a semantic association between operation and space.}, language = {en} } @article{HartmannMastFischer2015, author = {Hartmann, Matthias and Mast, Fred W. and Fischer, Martin H.}, title = {Spatial biases during mental arithmetic: evidence from eye movements on a blank screen}, series = {Frontiers in psychology}, volume = {6}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00012}, pages = {8}, year = {2015}, abstract = {While the influence of spatial-numerical associations in number categorization tasks has been well established, their role in mental arithmetic is less clear. It has been hypothesized that mental addition leads to rightward and upward shifts of spatial attention (along the "mental number line"), whereas subtraction leads to leftward and downward shifts. We addressed this hypothesis by analyzing spontaneous eye movements during mental arithmetic. Participants solved verbally presented arithmetic problems (e.g., 2 + 7, 8-3) aloud while looking at a blank screen. We found that eye movements reflected spatial biases in the ongoing mental operation: Gaze position shifted more upward when participants solved addition compared to subtraction problems, and the horizontal gaze position was partly determined by the magnitude of the operands. Interestingly, the difference between addition and subtraction trials was driven by the operator (plus vs. minus) but was not influenced by the computational process. Thus, our results do not support the idea of a mental movement toward the solution during arithmetic but indicate a semantic association between operation and space.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Felisatti2024, author = {Felisatti, Arianna}, title = {Spatial-numerical associations: From biological foundations to embodied learning to contextual flexibility}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-64179}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-641791}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {x, 195}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Among the different meanings carried by numerical information, cardinality is fundamental for survival and for the development of basic as well as of higher numerical skills. Importantly, the human brain inherits from evolution a predisposition to map cardinality onto space, as revealed by the presence of spatial-numerical associations (SNAs) in humans and animals. Here, the mapping of cardinal information onto physical space is addressed as a hallmark signature characterizing numerical cognition. According to traditional approaches, cognition is defined as complex forms of internal information processing, taking place in the brain (cognitive processor). On the contrary, embodied cognition approaches define cognition as functionally linked to perception and action, in the continuous interaction between a biological body and its physical and sociocultural environment. Embracing the principles of the embodied cognition perspective, I conducted four novel studies designed to unveil how SNAs originate, develop, and adapt, depending on characteristics of the organism, the context, and their interaction. I structured my doctoral thesis in three levels. At the grounded level (Study 1), I unfold the biological foundations underlying the tendency to map cardinal information across space; at the embodied level (Study 2), I reveal the impact of atypical motor development on the construction of SNAs; at the situated level (Study 3), I document the joint influence of visuospatial attention and task properties on SNAs. Furthermore, I experimentally investigate the presence of associations between physical and numerical distance, another numerical property fundamental for the development of efficient mathematical minds (Study 4). In Study 1, I present the Brain's Asymmetric Frequency Tuning hypothesis that relies on hemispheric asymmetries for processing spatial frequencies, a low-level visual feature that the (in)vertebrate brain extracts from any visual scene to create a coherent percept of the world. Computational analyses of the power spectra of the original stimuli used to document the presence of SNAs in human newborns and animals, support the brain's asymmetric frequency tuning as a theoretical account and as an evolutionarily inherited mechanism scaffolding the universal and innate tendency to represent cardinality across horizontal space. In Study 2, I explore SNAs in children with rare genetic neuromuscular diseases: spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). SMA children never accomplish independent motoric exploration of their environment; in contrast, DMD children do explore but later lose this ability. The different SNAs reported by the two groups support the critical role of early sensorimotor experiences in the spatial representation of cardinality. In Study 3, I directly compare the effects of overt attentional orientation during explicit and implicit processing of numerical magnitude. First, the different effects of attentional orienting based on the type of assessment support different mechanisms underlying SNAs during explicit and implicit assessment of numerical magnitude. Secondly, the impact of vertical shifts of attention on the processing of numerical distance sheds light on the correspondence between numerical distance and peri-personal distance. In Study 4, I document the presence of different SNAs, driven by numerical magnitude and numerical distance, by employing different response mappings (left vs. right and near vs. distant). In the field of numerical cognition, the four studies included in the present thesis contribute to unveiling how the characteristics of the organism and the environment influence the emergence, the development, and the flexibility of our attitude to represent cardinal information across space, thus supporting the predictions of the embodied cognition approach. Furthermore, they inform a taxonomy of body-centred factors (biological properties of the brain and sensorimotor system) modulating the spatial representation of cardinality throughout the course of life, at the grounded, embodied, and situated levels. If the awareness for different variables influencing SNAs over the course of life is important, it is equally important to consider the organism as a whole in its sensorimotor interaction with the world. Inspired by my doctoral research, here I propose a holistic perspective that considers the role of evolution, embodiment, and environment in the association of cardinal information with directional space. The new perspective advances the current approaches to SNAs, both at the conceptual and at the methodological levels. Unveiling how the mental representation of cardinality emerges, develops, and adapts is necessary to shape efficient mathematical minds and achieve economic productivity, technological progress, and a higher quality of life.}, language = {en} }