16:30 - 18:00
Mon-B21-Talk III-
Mon-Talk III-
Room: B21
Chair/s:
Christian Seegelke, Peter Wühr
During the last decades, researchers discovered and investigated a multitude of cross-dimensional S-R compatibility effects between different stimulus and response dimensions, including quantities, valence, and space. A prominent example is the SNARC (spatial-numerical association of response codes) effect, which describes the fact that human participants are faster and more accurate when responding to small numbers with a left rather than right response, and vice versa. Similar compatibility effects occur when physical size (spatial-size association of response code, SSARC) or valence varies as a stimulus feature, and participants respond with spatially distinct responses. Both the etiology and the structural sources of these compatibility effects are a matter of considerable debate. For many cross-dimensional compatibility effects, both local accounts (e.g., the mental number line as an explanation for the SNARC effect) and global accounts, which attempt to explain several phenomena through a general principle (e.g., a theory of magnitude; polarity correspondence) have been proposed. In this symposium, we present new research on different, cross-dimensional compatibility effects. Two contributions deal with the SNARC effect (Miklashevsky, Lindemann, & Fischer; Wühr & Richter), two talks report on the SSARC effect (e.g., Seegelke & Wühr; Wühr, Richter, & Seegelke), and a fifth contribution is concerned with valence-space interactions (Kühne, Nenaschew, & Miklashevsky). Based on these and other results, we evaluate similarities and differences between different compatibility effects, and discuss the plausibility of global accounts for these effects.
Force- and Space-Related Associations in Number Processing
Mon-B21-Talk III-02
Presented by: Alex Miklashevsky
Alex Miklashevsky 1, Martin H. Fischer 1, Oliver Lindemann 2
1 Potsdam Embodied Cognition Group, University of Potsdam, Germany, 2 Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands
BACKGROUND
Many studies demonstrated associations between smaller numbers and left space as well as larger numbers and right space. Almost all previous studies used lateralized motor (i.e., left or right) responses, and there is little evidence that these associations appear when no lateralized motor response is required. It raises the question of whether such associations are an intrinsic part of number semantics or emerge at the response stage.
METHOD
We recorded passive holding grip forces during processing of small numbers (from 1 to 4) and large numbers (from 6 to 9) in two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants performed a shallow task (“Is it a number or a letter?”); in Experiment 2, a semantically deeper magnitude judgment task (“Is this number larger or smaller than five?”) was performed.
RESULTS
Although we instructed participants to keep their grip force constant, it spontaneously changed in both experiments: In the numerical decision task, smaller numbers led to a greater force increase in the left than in the right hand. In the magnitude judgment task, smaller numbers increased the left-hand holding force, and larger numbers increased the right-hand holding force. This effect emerged earlier and lasted longer than in the shallow task.
DISCUSSION
For the first time, we demonstrated spatial associations of numbers in passive holding force. Our results suggest that (1) spatial-numerical associations can emerge without an instructed motor response and (2) the timing and strength of such associations depend on the cognitive task.
Keywords: SNARC, Mental number line, Number processing, Embodied cognition, Grip force, Motor system