On the Genesis of Spatial-Numerical Associations: Evolutionary and Cultural Factors Co- Construct the Mental Number Line

Abstract

Mapping numbers onto space is a common cognitive representation that has been explored in both behavioral and neuroimaging contexts. Empirical work probing the diverse nature of these spatial-numerical associations (SNAs) has led researchers to question 1) how the human brain links numbers with space, and 2) whether this link is biologically vs. culturally determined. We review the existing literature on the development of SNAs and situate that empirical work within cognitive and neuroscientific theoretical frameworks. We propose that an evolutionarily-ancient frontal-parietal circuit broadly tuned to multiple magnitude dimensions provides the phylogenetic substrate for SNAs, while enculturation and sensorimotor experience shape their specific profiles. We then use this perspective to discuss educational implications and highlight promising avenues for future research.

The spatial–numerical association of response codes effect and math skills: why related?

“…SNAs are a group of behavioral and neural phenomena showing that different aspects of numerical information are associated with different aspects of space. [3][4][5] The following distinctions are of major importance: 3 r Numerical information can be either approximate or exact.…”

A biological foundation for spatial–numerical associations: the brain's asymmetric frequency tuning

“…), and with responses made by many different body parts, such as the eyes, one or both hands, the feet, and even by turning one's head or when choosing a walking direction (reviews in Refs. [1][2][3].…”

The hand-lateralization of spatial associations in working memory and long-term memory

“…In Experiment 1, we conducted the parity judgement task, which is often used to investigate the spatial-numerical associations (Fischer & Shaki, 2014; Toomarian & Hubbard, 2018b; Wood et al, 2008), to explore the hand-lateralization of spatial associations.…”

“…One important phenomenon in this regard is the faster responses for smaller numbers with the left hand, and for larger numbers with the right hand; this is the celebrated Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Code (SNARC) effect (Dehaene et al, 1993). These spatial associations of numbers depend on cultural factors (Chen & Verguts, 2010; Shaki et al, 2009; Shaki & Fischer, 2008; for a current review, see Toomarian & Hubbard, 2018b; Verguts & Chen, 2017), which led researchers to agree that these associations are based on long-term memory representations (Dehaene et al, 1993, mental number line; Ginsburg & Gevers, 2015; Fischer & Shaki, 2014). Specifically, it was assumed that these associations result from the recall of number-space associations that were accumulated over a long period of time, either across an individual’s lifetime, or across evolutionary time.…”

“…Since the seminal study by Dehaene et al (1993), there has been extensive research on the SNARC effect (for reviews, see Fischer & Shaki, 2014; Toomarian & Hubbard, 2018b; Wood et al, 2008). Its reproducibility is relatively high; it has been obtained in various task contexts, for instance, bimanual judgements (Dehaene et al, 1993), unimanual judgements (Fischer et al, 2003; Shaki & Fischer, 2018), crossed hands (Dehaene et al, 1993), eye movements (Fischer et al, 2004), foot responses (Schwarz & Müller, 2006), numbers in different notations (Hung et al, 2008; Nuerk et al, 2004) or modalities (Nuerk et al, 2005), different number ranges (e.g., 1–5, or 1–9) (Fias, 1996; Nathan et al, 2009), and so forth.…”