On the limits of language influences on numerical cognition – no inversion effects in three-digit number magnitude processing in adults

Bahnmueller, Julia; Moeller, Korbinian; Mann, Anne; Nuerk, Hans‐Christoph

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01216

Cited by 17 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Several studies indicate that the unit-decade compatibility effect depends on language 52 – 56 (but see Bahnmüller et al . 57 , for limits of language effects). Macizo and Herrera 52 – 54 were able to show that Spanish participants can focus more easily on decades and ignore the units.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attention allows the SNARC effect to operate on multiple number lines

Weis

Nuerk

Lachmann

2018

Sci Rep

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To investigate whether participants can activate only one spatially oriented number line at a time or multiple number lines simultaneously, they were asked to solve a unit magnitude comparison task (unit smaller/larger than 5) and a parity judgment task (even/odd) on two-digit numbers. In both these primary tasks, decades were irrelevant. After some of the primary task trials (randomly), participants were asked to additionally solve a secondary task based on the previously presented number. In Experiment 1, they had to decide whether the two-digit number presented for the primary task was larger or smaller than 50. Thus, for the secondary task decades were relevant. In contrast, in Experiment 2, the secondary task was a color judgment task, which means decades were irrelevant. In Experiment 1, decades’ and units’ magnitudes influenced the spatial association of numbers separately. In contrast, in Experiment 2, only the units were spatially associated with magnitude. It was concluded that multiple number lines (one for units and one for decades) can be activated if attention is focused on multiple, separate magnitude attributes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attention allows the SNARC effect to operate on multiple number lines

Weis

Nuerk

Lachmann

2018

Sci Rep

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“…Evidence for the componential processing of multi-digit numbers complying with the place-value structure of the Arabic number system comes from a broad variety of tasks ranging from simple magnitude comparison to more complex numerical and arithmetical tasks. For instance, the unit-decade compatibility effect is one indicator of the componential processing of tens and units in number magnitude comparison (Nuerk, Weger, & Willmes, 2001): number pairs for which separate comparisons of tens and units yield compatible decision biases (e.g., 42_57; 4 < 5 and 2 < 7) are responded to faster and with fewer errors than number pairs for which these separate comparisons of tens and units yield incompatible decision biases (e.g., 47_62, 4 < 6, but 7 > 2, e.g., Ganor-Stern, Tzelgov, & Ellenbogen, 2007;Kallai & Tzelgov, 2012;Macizo & Herrera, 2013;Moeller, Klein, Nuerk, & Willmes, 2013; see also Bahnmueller, Moeller, Mann, & Nuerk, 2015, Korvorst & Damian, 2008, for evidence on three-digit numbers).…”

Section: Processing Place-value Information Of Multi-digit Numbersmentioning

confidence: 99%

More than simple facts: cross-linguistic differences in place-value processing in arithmetic fact retrieval

Bahnmueller

Göbel

Pixner³

et al. 2018

Psychological Research

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Linguistic specificities such as the inversion property of number words (e.g., in German 43 is spoken dreiundvierzig, literally three and forty) moderate Arabic number processing. So far, cross-linguistic studies have mostly focused on inversion-related effects on simple (e.g., number comparison) and calculation-based (e.g., multi-digit addition) magnitude processing of numerical information. Despite the assumption that multiplication facts are represented in verbal format, not much attention has been paid to inversion-related influences on multiplication fact retrieval. Accordingly, the current study evaluated inversion-related effects on the processing of place-value information in multiplication. In a verification paradigm, the decade consistency effect (i.e., more errors when the decade of a solution probe shares the decade digit with the correct solution) was larger for English- than German-speaking participants for table-related probes. Processing of decade digits might be prioritised in English-speaking participants because the decade digit is named first in English number words, whereas in German number words the unit digit is named first. Our results indicate that (1) the influence of specificities of a verbal number word formation on place-value processing generalise to arithmetic fact retrieval and (2) inversion of number words might even be advantageous in specific cases.

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“…To investigate potential modulating effects of linguistic markedness more directly, we compared overall reaction times as well as the respective numerical effects directly between the newly conducted pick smaller and the pick larger experiment in Bahnmueller et al (2015). In line with previous reports (Arend & Henik, 2015;Verguts & De Moor, 2005), we expected prolonged reaction times when instructed to pick the smaller as compared to picking the larger number.…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 62%

“…When overall distance is held constant between compatible and incompatible number pairs, compatible number pairs are usually responded to faster and with fewer errors than incompatible ones. Moreover, compatibility effects were also observed for three-digit numbers (Bahnmueller et al, 2015(Bahnmueller et al, , 2016Korvorst & Damian, 2008;Mann, Moeller, Pixner, Kaufmann, & Nuerk, 2012; see also Huber, Moeller, Nuerk, & Willmes, 2013 for simulated data; see also Meyerhoff, Moeller, Debus, & Nuerk, 2012 for compatibility effects in four-and six-digit numbers). Following the same logic as for twodigit numbers, hundred-decade and hundred-unit compatibility effects can be defined for three-digit numbers (e.g., the number pair 327_465 is hundred-decade compatible because 3 < 4 and 2 < 6, but it is hundred-unit incompatible because 3 < 4 but 7 > 5).…”

Section: Numerical Distance and Compatibility Effectsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Pick the smaller number: No influence of linguistic markedness on three-digit number processing

Bahnmueller¹,

Cipora²,

Göbel³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The symbolic number comparison task has been widely used to investigate the cognitive representation and underlying processes of multi-digit number processing. The standard procedure to establish numerical distance and compatibility effects in such number comparison paradigms usually entails asking participants to indicate the larger of two presented multi-digit Arabic numbers rather than to indicate the smaller number. In terms of linguistic markedness, this procedure includes the unmarked/base form in the task instruction (i.e., large). Here we evaluate distance and compatibility effects in a three-digit number comparison task observed in Bahnmueller et al. (2015) using a marked task instruction (i.e., ‘pick the smaller number’). Moreover, we aimed at clarifying whether the markedness of task instruction influences common numerical effects and especially componential processing as indexed by compatibility effects. We instructed German- and English-speaking adults (N=52) to indicate the smaller number in a three-digit number comparison task as opposed to indicating the larger number in Bahnmueller et al. (2015). We replicated standard effects of distance and compatibility in the new pick the smaller number experiment. Moreover, when comparing our findings to Bahnmueller et al. (2015), numerical effects did not differ significantly between the two studies as indicated by both frequentist and Bayesian analysis. Taken together our data suggest that distance and compatibility effects alongside componential processing of multi-digit numbers are rather robust against variations of linguistic markedness of task instructions.

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On the limits of language influences on numerical cognition – no inversion effects in three-digit number magnitude processing in adults

Cited by 17 publications

References 42 publications

Attention allows the SNARC effect to operate on multiple number lines

Attention allows the SNARC effect to operate on multiple number lines

More than simple facts: cross-linguistic differences in place-value processing in arithmetic fact retrieval

Pick the smaller number: No influence of linguistic markedness on three-digit number processing

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