Development of SNARC and distance effects and their relation to mathematical and visuospatial abilities

Gibson, Laura C.; Maurer, Daphne

doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2016.05.009

Cited by 32 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The same seems to be true in the case of children (Gibson and Maurer, 2016) and adolescents (Schneider et al, 2009). On the other hand, Georges et al (2017) reported a correlation.…”

Section: Correlations With Arithmetic Skillsmentioning

confidence: 54%

More Space, Better Mathematics: Is Space a Powerful Tool or a Cornerstone for Understanding Arithmetic?

Cipora

Schroeder

Soltanlou

et al. 2018

Visualizing Mathematics

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Undoubtedly, tight links between space and number processing exist. Usually, findings of Spatial-Numerical Associations (SNA) are interpreted causally, i.e., that spatial capabilities aid or are even a fundamental cornerstone of mathematical skill. In this book chapter, we question this seemingly ubiquitous assumption. To start with, there is no robust and prevalent correlation between SNA in general and math abilities. After presenting an extended taxonomy for different SNA subtypes, we show that only some SNA subtypes correlate with math abilities, whereas others do not. We argue that these correlations are not conclusive for several reasons. (i) Their correlations vary (i.e., stronger SNA sometimes is related to better math ability, and sometimes to poorer math ability). (ii) The correlations might not show a genuine relation between space and number; rather mediator variables might explain the correlations. For instance, SNA tasks often involve an interference component tapping cognitive control functions (as in multi-digit number processing) or some relatively advanced reasoning skills or strategies. (iii) Finally, the direction of causality (if it exists) is far from resolved. While conventional theories suggest that spatial-numerical abilities underlie arithmetic skill, we argue that vice versa arithmetic abilities instead underlie performance in some spatial-numerical tasks used to assess spatial-numerical representations. On the other hand, benefits conferred by SNA trainings on math abilities seem to reinforce the claim that SNA underlies math abilities. We contend that tasks used in such trainings may tap several cognitive operations required in arithmetic, but not built-up fixed SNAs themselves. Therefore, we argue that using space is a powerful tool, especially for instructing and learning multi-digit numbers; however, this does not necessarily imply an internalized fixed mental number line.

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“…The same seems to be true in the case of children (Gibson and Maurer, 2016) and adolescents (Schneider et al, 2009). On the other hand, Georges et al (2017) reported a correlation.…”

Section: Correlations With Arithmetic Skillsmentioning

confidence: 54%

More Space, Better Mathematics: Is Space a Powerful Tool or a Cornerstone for Understanding Arithmetic?

Cipora

Schroeder

Soltanlou

et al. 2018

Visualizing Mathematics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This observation is in accordance with the study of Viarouge et al (2014), who also failed to find evidence for a relation between parity SNAs and 3D mental rotation skills. Similarly, Gibson and Maurer (2016) did not observe a relation between magnitude SNAs and performances in a standardized test of visuospatial skills (DTVP-2) in children. Nevertheless, it might be slightly surprising when considering the aforementioned association between number-space associations in the magnitude classification task and the participants' visualization profiles, which were shown to relate to visualization abilities (Blajenkova et al, 2006;Blazhenkova et al, 2011, see also present results).…”

Section: Individual Differences In Number-space Association 200mentioning

confidence: 81%

How and why do number-space associations co-vary in implicit and explicit magnitude processing tasks?

2017

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Evidence for number-space associations in implicit and explicit magnitude processing tasks comes from the parity and magnitude SNARC effect respectively. Different spatial accounts were suggested to underlie these spatial-numerical associations (SNAs) with some inconsistencies in the literature. To determine whether the parity and magnitude SNAs arise from a single predominant account or taskdependent coding mechanisms, we adopted an individual differences approach to study their correlation and the extent of their association with arithmetic performance, spatial visualization ability and visualization profile. Additionally, we performed moderation analyses to determine whether the relation between these SNAs depended on individual differences in those cognitive factors. The parity and magnitude SNAs did not correlate and were differentially predicted by arithmetic performance and visualization profile respectively. These variables, however, also moderated the relation between the SNAs. While positive correlations were observed in object-visualizers with lower arithmetic performances, correlations were negative in spatial-visualizers with higher arithmetic performances. This suggests the predominance of a single account for both implicit and explicit SNAs in the two types of visualizers. However, the spatial nature of the account differs between object-and spatial-visualizers. No relation occurred in mixed-visualizers, indicating the activation of taskdependent coding mechanisms. Individual differences in arithmetic performance and visualization profile thus determined whether SNAs in implicit and explicit tasks co-varied and supposedly relied on similar or unrelated spatial coding mechanisms. This explains some inconsistencies in the literature regarding SNAs and highlights the usefulness of moderation analyses for understanding how the relation between different numerical concepts varies between individuals.

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“…However, these effects were highlighted with nonsymbolic stimuli, whereas symbolic stimuli were included in all the tasks of the current study. With symbolic stimuli, SNARC effects were demonstrated in Chinese kindergarteners (Yang et al, 2014) but were observed later in Western children (7-and 8-year-olds: Gibson & Maurer, 2016;5.8-year-olds: Hoffmann, Hornung, Martin, & Schiltz, 2013). Indeed, when preschool children need to perform a magnitude judgment task requiring exact number knowledge (as in the current study), the SNARC effect seems to emerge only at 5.8 years.…”

Section: Linear Versus Random Trainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

How visual experience and task context modulate the use of internal and external spatial coordinate for perception and action.

Crollen¹,

Spruyt²,

Mahau³

et al. 2019

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

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Recent studies have suggested that multisensory redundancy may improve cognitive learning. According to this view, information simultaneously available across two or more modalities is highly salient and, therefore, may be learned and remembered better than the same information presented to only one modality. In the current study, we wanted to evaluate whether training arithmetic with a multisensory intervention could induce larger learning improvements than a visual intervention alone. Moreover, because a left-to-right-oriented mental number line was for a long time considered as a core feature of numerical representation, we also wanted to compare left-to-right-organized and randomly organized arithmetic training. Therefore, five training programs were created and called (a) multisensory linear, (b) multisensory random, (c) visual linear, (d) visual random, and (e) control. A total of 85 preschoolers were randomly assigned to one of these five training conditions. Whereas children were trained to solve simple addition and subtraction operations in the first four training conditions, story understanding was the focus of the control training. Several numerical tasks (arithmetic, number-to-position, number comparison, counting, and subitizing) were used as pre-and post-test measures. Although the effect of spatial disposition was not significant, results demonstrated that the multisensory training condition led to a significantly larger performance

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Development of SNARC and distance effects and their relation to mathematical and visuospatial abilities

Cited by 32 publications

References 33 publications

More Space, Better Mathematics: Is Space a Powerful Tool or a Cornerstone for Understanding Arithmetic?

More Space, Better Mathematics: Is Space a Powerful Tool or a Cornerstone for Understanding Arithmetic?

How and why do number-space associations co-vary in implicit and explicit magnitude processing tasks?

How visual experience and task context modulate the use of internal and external spatial coordinate for perception and action.

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