TY - JOUR A1 - Myachykov, Andriy A1 - Cangelosi, Angelo A1 - Ellis, Rob A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - The oculomotor resonance effect in spatial-numerical mapping JF - Acta psychologica : international journal of psychonomics N2 - We investigated automatic Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect in auditory number processing. Two experiments continually measured spatial characteristics of ocular drift at central fixation during and after auditory number presentation. Consistent with the notion of a spatially oriented mental number line, we found spontaneous magnitude-dependent gaze adjustments, both with and without a concurrent saccadic task. This fixation adjustment (1) had a small-number/left-lateralized bias and (2) it was biphasic as it emerged for a short time around the point of lexical access and it received later robust representation around following number onset. This pattern suggests a two-step mechanism of sensorimotor mapping between numbers and space a first-pass bottom-up activation followed by a top-down and more robust horizontal SNARC Our results inform theories of number processing as well as simulation-based approaches to cognition by identifying the characteristics of an oculomotor resonance phenomenon. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Attention KW - Embodied cognition KW - Eye movements KW - Oculomotor resonance KW - Ocular drift KW - SNARC Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2015.09.006 SN - 0001-6918 SN - 1873-6297 VL - 161 SP - 162 EP - 169 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Winter, Bodo A1 - Matlock, Teenie A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Mental number space in three dimensions JF - Neuroscience & biobehavioral reviews : official journal of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society N2 - A large number of experimental findings from neuroscience and experimental psychology demonstrated interactions between spatial cognition and numerical cognition. In particular, many researchers posited a horizontal mental number line, where small numbers are thought of as being to the left of larger numbers. This review synthesizes work on the mental association between space and number, indicating the existence of multiple spatial mappings: recent research has found associations between number and vertical space, as well as associations between number and near/far space. We discuss number space in three dimensions with an eye on potential origins of the different number mappings, and how these number mappings fit in with our current knowledge of brain organization and brain-culture interactions. We derive novel predictions and show how this research fits into a general view of cognition as embodied, grounded and situated. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Embodiment KW - Intra-parietal sulcus KW - Mental number line KW - Metaphor KW - Neglect KW - Spatial cognition KW - SNARC Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.09.005 SN - 0149-7634 SN - 1873-7528 VL - 57 SP - 209 EP - 219 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Brugger, Peter T1 - When digits help digits spatial-numerical associations point to finger counting as prime example of embodied cognition JF - Frontiers in psychology N2 - Spatial numerical associations (SNAs) are prevalent yet their origin is poorly understood. We first consider the possible prime role of reading habits in shaping SNAs and list three observations that argue against a prominent influence of this role: (1) directional reading habits for numbers may conflict with those for non-numerical symbols, (2) short-term experimental manipulations can overrule the impact of decades of reading experience, (3) SNAs predate the acquisition of reading. As a promising alternative, we discuss behavioral, neuroscientific, and neuropsychological evidence in support of finger counting as the most likely initial determinant of SNAs. Implications of this "manumerical cognition" stance for the distinction between grounded, embodied, and situated cognition are discussed. KW - embodied cognition KW - finger counting KW - numerical cognition Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00260 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 2 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pinhas, Michal A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Addition goes where the big numbers are: evidence for a reversed operational momentum effect JF - Psychonomic bulletin & review : a journal of the Psychonomic Society N2 - Number processing evokes spatial biases, both when dealing with single digits and in more complex mental calculations. Here we investigated whether these two biases have a common origin, by examining their flexibility. Participants pointed to the locations of arithmetic results on a visually presented line with an inverted, right-to-left number arrangement. We found directionally opposite spatial biases for mental arithmetic and for a parity task administered both before and after the arithmetic task. We discuss implications of this dissociation in our results for the task-dependent cognitive representation of numbers. KW - Mental arithmetic KW - Mental number line KW - Operational momentum KW - Pointing KW - SNARC Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-014-0786-z SN - 1069-9384 SN - 1531-5320 VL - 22 IS - 4 SP - 993 EP - 1000 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - INPR A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Newborn chicks need no number tricks. Commentary: Number-space mapping in the newborn chick resembles humans' mental number line T2 - Frontiers in human neuroscienc KW - mental number line KW - innate number sense KW - numerical cognition KW - spatial cognition KW - spatial numerical associations Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00451 SN - 1662-5161 VL - 9 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Apel, Jens K. A1 - Revie, Gavin F. A1 - Cangelosi, Angelo A1 - Ellis, Rob A1 - Goslin, Jeremy A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Attention deployment during memorizing and executing complex instructions JF - Experimental brain research N2 - We investigated the mental rehearsal of complex action instructions by recording spontaneous eye movements of healthy adults as they looked at objects on a monitor. Participants heard consecutive instructions, each of the form "move [object] to [location]''. Instructions were only to be executed after a go signal, by manipulating all objects successively with a mouse. Participants re-inspected previously mentioned objects already while listening to further instructions. This rehearsal behavior broke down after 4 instructions, coincident with participants' instruction span, as determined from subsequent execution accuracy. These results suggest that spontaneous eye movements while listening to instructions predict their successful execution. KW - Assembly task KW - Eye movements KW - Overt attention KW - Rehearsal KW - Sequential instruction KW - Working memory Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2827-4 SN - 0014-4819 VL - 214 IS - 2 SP - 249 EP - 259 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Knudsen, Birgit A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Aschersleben, Gisa T1 - Development of spatial preferences for counting and picture naming JF - Psychological research : an international journal of perception, attention, memory, and action N2 - The direction of object enumeration reflects children's enculturation but previous work on the development of such spatial preferences has been inconsistent. Therefore, we documented directional preferences in finger counting, object counting, and picture naming for children (4 groups from 3 to 6 years, N = 104) and adults (N = 56). We found a right-side preference for finger counting in 3- to 6-year-olds and a left-side preference for counting objects and naming pictures by 6 years of age. Children were consistent in their special preferences when comparing object counting and picture naming, but not in other task pairings. Finally, spatial preferences were not related to cardinality comprehension. These results, together with other recent work, suggest a gradual development of spatial-numerical associations from early non-directional mappings into culturally constrained directional mappings. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-014-0623-z SN - 0340-0727 SN - 1430-2772 VL - 79 IS - 6 SP - 939 EP - 949 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Goebel, Silke M. T1 - Direction counts A comparative study of spatially directional counting biases in cultures with different reading directions JF - Journal of experimental child psychology N2 - 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. KW - Counting KW - Numerical cognition KW - Reading direction KW - Number-space association KW - Mental Number KW - Cross-cultural Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2011.12.005 SN - 0022-0965 VL - 112 IS - 2 SP - 275 EP - 281 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Multiple spatial mappings in numerical cognition JF - Journal of experimental psychology : Human perception and performance N2 - A recent cross-cultural comparison (Shaki, Fischer, & Petrusic, 2009) suggested that spatially consistent processing habits for words and numbers are a necessary condition for the spatial representation of numbers (Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes; SNARC effect). Here we reexamine the SNARC in Israelis who read text from right to left but numbers from left to right. We show that, despite these spatially inconsistent processing habits, a SNARC effect still emerges when the response dimension is spatially orthogonal to the conflicting processing dimension. These results clarify the cognitive conditions for spatial-numerical mappings. KW - mental number line KW - reading habits KW - SNARC Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027562 SN - 0096-1523 VL - 38 IS - 3 SP - 804 EP - 809 PB - American Psychological Association CY - Washington ER - TY - INPR A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Kaufmann, Liane A1 - Domahs, Frank T1 - Finger counting and numerical cognition T2 - Frontiers in psychology Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00108 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 3 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wasner, Mirjam A1 - Moeller, Korbinian A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Nuerk, Hans-Christoph T1 - Aspects of situated cognition in embodied numerosity: the case of finger counting JF - Cognitive processing : international quarterly of cognitive science N2 - Numerical cognitions such as spatial-numerical associations have been observed to be influenced by grounded, embodied and situated factors. For the case of finger counting, grounded and embodied influences have been reported. However, situated influences, e.g., that reported counting habits change with perception and action within a given situation, have not been systematically examined. To pursue the issue of situatedness of reported finger-counting habits, 458 participants were tested in three separate groups: (1) spontaneous condition: counting with both hands available, (2) perceptual condition: counting with horizontal (left-to-right) perceptual arrangement of fingers (3) perceptual and proprioceptive condition: counting with horizontal (left-to-right) perceptual arrangement of fingers and with busy dominant hand. Report of typical counting habits differed strongly between the three conditions. 28 % reported to start counting with the left hand in the spontaneous counting condition (1), 54 % in the perceptual condition (2) and 62 % in the perceptual and proprioceptive condition (3). Additionally, all participants in the spontaneous counting group showed a symmetry-based counting pattern (with the thumb as number 6), while in the two other groups, a considerable number of participants exhibited a spatially continuous counting pattern (with the pinkie as number 6). Taken together, the study shows that reported finger-counting habits depend on the perceptual and proprioceptive situation and thus are strongly influenced by situated cognition. We suggest that this account reconciles apparently contradictory previous findings of different counting preferences regarding the starting hand in different examination situations. KW - Finger counting KW - Situated cognition KW - Number processing KW - Finger-digit mapping Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-014-0599-z SN - 1612-4782 SN - 1612-4790 VL - 15 IS - 3 SP - 317 EP - 328 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shaki, Samuel A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Random walks on the mental number line JF - Experimental brain research KW - Mental number line KW - RNG KW - SNARC KW - Spatial bias KW - Walking Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-013-3718-7 SN - 0014-4819 SN - 1432-1106 VL - 232 IS - 1 SP - 43 EP - 49 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Why Numbers Are Embodied Concepts JF - Frontiers in Psychology KW - arithmetic KW - numerical cognition KW - number concepts KW - embodied cognition KW - philosophy of science Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02347 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 8 SP - 1 EP - 3 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sixtus, Elena A1 - Lonnemann, Jan A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Werner, Karsten T1 - Mental Number Representations in 2D Space JF - Frontiers in Psychology N2 - There is evidence both for mental number representations along a horizontal mental number line with larger numbers to the right of smaller numbers (for Western cultures) and a physically grounded, vertical representation where “more is up.” Few studies have compared effects in the horizontal and vertical dimension and none so far have combined both dimensions within a single paradigm where numerical magnitude was task-irrelevant and none of the dimensions was primed by a response dimension. We now investigated number representations over both dimensions, building on findings that mental representations of numbers and space co-activate each other. In a Go/No-go experiment, participants were auditorily primed with a relatively small or large number and then visually presented with quasi-randomly distributed distractor symbols and one Arabic target number (in Go trials only). Participants pressed a central button whenever they detected the target number and elsewise refrained from responding. Responses were not more efficient when small numbers were presented to the left and large numbers to the right. However, results indicated that large numbers were associated with upper space more strongly than small numbers. This suggests that in two-dimensional space when no response dimension is given, numbers are conceptually associated with vertical, but not horizontal space. KW - spatial-numerical associations KW - SNARC KW - vertical space KW - horizontal space KW - Go/No-go task Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00172 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 10 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hartmann, Matthias A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Exploring the numerical mind by eye-tracking: a special issue T2 - Psychological research : an international journal of perception, attention, memory, and action Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-016-0759-0 SN - 0340-0727 SN - 1430-2772 VL - 80 SP - 325 EP - 333 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Myachykov, Andriy A1 - Ellis, Rob A1 - Cangelosi, Angelo A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Ocular drift along the mental number line JF - Psychological research : an international journal of perception, attention, memory, and action N2 - We examined the spontaneous association between numbers and space by documenting attention deployment and the time course of associated spatial-numerical mapping with and without overt oculomotor responses. In Experiment 1, participants maintained central fixation while listening to number names. In Experiment 2, they made horizontal target-direct saccades following auditory number presentation. In both experiments, we continuously measured spontaneous ocular drift in horizontal space during and after number presentation. Experiment 2 also measured visual-probe-directed saccades following number presentation. Reliable ocular drift congruent with a horizontal mental number line emerged during and after number presentation in both experiments. Our results provide new evidence for the implicit and automatic nature of the oculomotor resonance effect associated with the horizontal spatial-numerical mapping mechanism. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-015-0731-4 SN - 0340-0727 SN - 1430-2772 VL - 80 SP - 379 EP - 388 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hartmann, Matthias A1 - Mast, Fred W. A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Counting is a spatial process: evidence from eye movements JF - Psychological research : an international journal of perception, attention, memory, and action N2 - Spatial-numerical associations (small numbers-left/lower space and large numbers-right/upper space) are regularly found in simple number categorization tasks. These associations were taken as evidence for a spatially oriented mental number line. However, the role of spatial-numerical associations during more complex number processing, such as counting or mental arithmetic is less clear. Here, we investigated whether counting is associated with a movement along the mental number line. Participants counted aloud upward or downward in steps of 3 for 45 s while looking at a blank screen. Gaze position during upward counting shifted rightward and upward, while the pattern for downward counting was less clear. Our results, therefore, confirm the hypothesis of a movement along the mental number line for addition. We conclude that space is not only used to represent number magnitudes but also to actively operate on numbers in more complex tasks such as counting, and that the eyes reflect this spatial mental operation. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-015-0722-5 SN - 0340-0727 SN - 1430-2772 VL - 80 SP - 399 EP - 409 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wiemers, Michael A1 - Fischer, Martin H. T1 - Effects of Hand Proximity and Movement Direction in Spatial and Temporal Gap Discrimination JF - Frontiers in psychology KW - attention KW - perception and action KW - two visual systems KW - visual perception KW - movement preparation Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01930 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lachmair, Martin A1 - Fernandez, Susana Ruiz A1 - Bury, Nils-Alexander A1 - Gerjets, Peter A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Bock, Otmar L. T1 - How Body Orientation Affects Concepts of Space, Time and Valence: Functional Relevance of Integrating Sensorimotor Experiences during Word Processing JF - PLoS one Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165795 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 11 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gerth, Sabrina A1 - Klassert, Annegret A1 - Dolk, Thomas A1 - Fliesser, Michael A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Nottbusch, Guido A1 - Festman, Julia T1 - Is Handwriting Performance Affected by the Writing Surface? Comparing Tablet vs. Paper JF - Frontiers in psychology KW - handwriting KW - movement kinematics KW - writing acquisition KW - children KW - graphomotor control KW - tablet Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01308 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER -