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16:30 - 18:00
Parallel sessions 3
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16:30 - 18:00
Room: C-Building - N14
Chair/s:
Krzysztof Cipora
Automatisation is crucial for humans’ everyday functioning: it helps release limited cognitive resources and relatively effortlessly process information in a repeatable manner. As a workhorse of cognition, automatisation does not always work to our advantage. If the task requires non-typical actions, automatisation misguides us. Such situations offer a valuable window into the nature of automatic processing and cognition in general. 
Several domains, including numerical cognition, investigate the automatic processing of certain stimuli to better understand information processing.
In this symposium, we look into how numerical information can be processed automatically when it is not required by task demands. In particular, we discuss how automatically processed semantic information on numbers, specifically their magnitude can be associated with space, and the limitations of these associations in individuals with different math skills levels. 
While numbers are associated with space in multiple ways (cf. Spatial-Numerical Associations), this symposium explores ways in which semantic information about numbers is triggered while not being required by task instructions, and how this information interacts with spatial processing.
First, we discuss whether the well-researched SNARC effect (i.e., association of small / large magnitude numbers with left / right response side), is triggered when asking participants to judge non-semantic features of the stimuli, such as orientation (Talk 1, V. Prpic) or colour (Talk 2, K. Cipora). We also explore whether such effects differ between the general population and professional mathematicians. 
Following up on links between automaticity of number processing, its spatial associations and their relation to mathematical expertise, we discuss (Talk 3, M. Sroka) how numerical magnitude influences font size judgments (i.e., size congruity effect), and whether these associations differ between professional mathematicians and control groups.
Going beyond traditional paradigms with participants seated in front of a computer screen, we look into whether generating random numbers, which does not require magnitude processing per se, affects spatial decision making in virtual reality (Talk 4, M. Murgia).
We conclude with a talk about breaking the automaticity of S-R mappings in the SNARC effect and whether this makes the SNARC more predictive of math abilities (Talk 5, J.-P. van Dijck).
Submission 604
Are Spatial Decisions Influenced by Number Magnitude? Evidence for Spatial–Numerical Associations in Complex Movements Within a VR Environment
SymposiumTalk-04
Presented by: Mauro Murgia
Mauro Murgia 1, Angelica Ielo 1, Stefano Pileggi 1, Valter Prpic 2, Cathy Craig 3, Tiziano Agostini 1, Fabrizio Sors 1
1 University of Trieste, Italy
2 E-campus University, Italy
3 Ulster University, United Kingdom
The Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect refers to the spatial mapping between numerical magnitude and response side, with smaller numbers typically linked to leftward responses and larger numbers to rightward ones. While this effect is commonly observed through RT differences in simple key-press tasks - such as magnitude classification or parity judgment - our study examined whether comparable spatial biases emerge in decisions involving more complex motor actions, specifically walking. In a virtual reality environment, participants viewed a number from 1 to 9 displayed directly in front of them. At the start of each trial, they processed either the number’s magnitude (Experiment 1) or its parity (Experiment 2) and were then instructed to walk freely in any direction toward a semi-circular target area while maintaining the relevant information in working memory. Across both experiments, participants showed a higher tendency to walk leftward in response to smaller numbers and rightward in response to larger ones, revealing a spatial bias consistent with the SNARC effect. These results demonstrate that, in a free-response task, walking direction is systematically influenced by numerical magnitude, regardless of whether magnitude is explicitly relevant to the task.