Clock Walking and Gender: How Circular Movements Influence Arithmetic Calculations

Abstract

Starting from a rich body of evidence on the strict bidirectional relationship between numerical cognition and action processes, the present study aims at deepening the existing knowledge of the influence of body movement on arithmetic calculation. Numerous studies have shown that moving the body along the vertical or the horizontal axis could facilitate calculations such as additions and subtractions. More specifically, results showed an effect of congruence between the type of operation (additions vs. subtractions) and the direction of the movement performed (up/right or down/left). While this congruence effect is present for both additions and subtractions when the axis of action is vertical, when the axis of action is horizontal, the effect appears only for additions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of circular motion, which has so far not been explored, on counting. Participants were asked to count by adding or subtracting “three,” while performing a circular motion (i.e., a clockwise or counterclockwise movement), in an active (i.e., walking) or passive mode (i.e., being pushed on a wheelchair). Results showed a congruence effect for additions calculated in the active modality and only for male participants. Implications of the results for theories of embodied cognition and for the debate on gender differences in mathematical skills are discussed in this paper.

Gender stereotypes and incremental beliefs in STEM and non-STEM students in three countries: relationships with performance in cognitive tasks

“…Further confirmation of these gender differences comes from studies considering embodied cognition. For instance, Lugli, D'Ascenzo, Borghi and Nicoletti (2018) found that clockwise movement favours math performance in men but not in women, confirming again that men rely more than women on a spatial number representation. Furthermore, teachers (Li, 1999) and parents (Tomasetto, Alparone, & Cadinu, 2011) believe boys to be more skilled than girls in mathematics.…”

Where Are the Months? Mental Images of Circular Time in a Large Online Sample

“…Interestingly, right-handed respondents assigned higher naturalness to the “circle” model than lefthanders. As pointed out by Lugli et al (2018), the clockwise and counterclockwise circular movements might represent a strengthened horizontal movement to the right and to the left, respectively. We had considered that manual “torque” (or the force exerted when acting on many objects that require a rotational movement of the hand or wrist or arm) could have led righthanders to imagine the cyclical motion of time in a clockwise direction; while lefthanders might prefer the opposite motion.…”

“…opening or releasing. It remains unclear whether the image of a clockwise motion may be evoked also when the motion is metaphorical, and no action is literally required, as one could possibly posit on the basis of models of cognitive “force dynamics” (Talmy, 1988) and “embodied” cognitive compatibility effects (e.g., Glenberg and Kaschak, 2002; Lugli et al, 2018). In these cases, meaning derives from the biomechanical nature of bodies and perceptual systems (Lakoff, 1987; Glenberg, 1997).…”

From Affordances to Abstract Words: The Flexibility of Sensorimotor Grounding

“…Consistently, some studies have shown that tiny and large numbers evoke different gestures (e.g., [103,104]). We documented these associations in various behavioral and kinematics studies, where we found that participants computed more additions than subtractions when performing an ascensional movement, moving rightward, and moving in a circular clockwise way (e.g., [105][106][107]). For example, Anelli et al [107] asked participants to subtract or add three to a starting number for 22 s while either turning leftward or rightward from a straight walking path, and then to report the result aloud.…”