Reading direction and spatial effects in parity and arithmetic tasks

Azhar, Maham; Chen, Yalin; Campbell, Jamie I. D.

doi:10.1007/s00426-020-01397-y

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…This is consistent with evidence that spatial and numerical representations must be jointly involved to observe 5) Twelve of the 74 participants reported that their first language for arithmetic was Farsi, Persian or Urdu, which are languages with right-to-left reading direction. The SNARC effect appears to be sensitive to participants' habitual reading direction such that right-to-left readers have demonstrated a reverse SNARC effect (Dehaene et al, 1993;Shaki et al, 2009) suggesting a reverse mapping of number magnitude to space between right-to-left and left-to-right readers (see also Azhar, Chen, & Campbell, 2020). To our knowledge effects of reading direction on number-space associations have not been investigated for simple arithmetic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

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Not toeing the number line for simple arithmetic: Two large-n conceptual replications of Mathieu et al. (Cognition, 2016, Experiment 1)

Campbell¹,

Chen²,

Azhar³

2021

J. Numer. Cogn.

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We conducted two conceptual replications of Experiment 1 in Mathieu, Gourjon, Couderc, Thevenot, and Prado (2016, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2015.10.002). They tested a sample of 34 French adults on mixed-operation blocks of single-digit addition (4 + 3) and subtraction (4 – 3) with the three problem elements (O1, +/-, O2) presented sequentially. Addition was 34 ms faster if O2 appeared 300 ms after the operation sign and displaced 5° to the right of central fixation, whereas subtraction was 19 ms faster when O2 was displaced to the left. Replication Experiment 1 (n = 74 recruited at the University of Saskatchewan) used the same non-zero addition and subtraction problems and trial event sequence as Mathieu et al., but participants completed blocks of pure addition and pure subtraction followed by the mixed-operation condition used by Mathieu et al. Addition RT showed a 32 ms advantage with O2 shifted rightward relative to leftward but only in mixed-operation blocks. There was no effect of O2 position on subtraction RT. Experiment 2 (n = 74) was the same except mixed-operation blocks occurred before the pure-operation blocks. There was an overall 13 ms advantage with O2 shifted right relative to leftward but no interaction with operation or with mixture (i.e., pure vs mixed operations). Nonetheless, the rightward RT advantage was statistically significant for both addition and subtraction only in mixed-operation blocks. Taken together with the robust effects of mixture in Experiment 1, the results suggest that O2 position effects in this paradigm might reflect task specific demands associated with mixed operations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Campbell, J. I. D., Chen, Y., & Azhar, M. (2020). Supplementary materials to "Not toeing the number line for simple arithmetic: Two largen conceptual replications of Mathieu et al (Cognition, 2016…”

Section: Supplementary Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Not toeing the number line for simple arithmetic: Two large-n conceptual replications of Mathieu et al. (Cognition, 2016, Experiment 1)

Campbell¹,

Chen²,

Azhar³

2021

J. Numer. Cogn.

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“…Subtraction outcomes are located on the "small number" or "left" part of the numberline, which primes attention by default because of either cultural (e.g., left-to-right script direction; cf. Azhar et al, 2020;Masson et al, 2020), or biological factors e.g., right hemisphere dominance in spatial attention, which results in left visual hemifield prevalence and has been well documented in the literature on attention (Corbetta and Shulman, 2002; see also Toomarian and Hubbard, 2018). If so, no strong cuing effect is to be expected for subtraction.…”

Section: Analysis Of Accuracymentioning

confidence: 93%

Perceived Motion and Operational Momentum: How Speed, Distance, and Time Influence Two-Digit Arithmetic

2021

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Operational momentum was originally defined as a bias toward underestimating outcomes of subtraction and overestimating outcomes of addition. It was suggested that these estimation biases are due to leftward attentional shift along the mental number-line (spatially organized internal representation of number) in subtraction and rightward shift in addition. This assumes the use of “recycled” mechanisms of spatial attention, including “representational momentum” – a tendency to overestimate future position of a moving object, which compensates for the moving object’s shift during preparation of a reaction. We tested a strong version of this assumption directly, priming two-digit addition and subtraction problems with leftward and rightward motion of varied velocity, as velocity of the tracked object was found to be a factor in determining representational momentum effect size. Operands were subsequently moving across the computer screen, and the participants’ task was to validate an outcome proposed at the end of the event, which was either too low, correct, or too high. We found improved accuracy in detecting too-high outcomes of addition, as well as complex patterns of interactions involving arithmetic operation, outcome option, speed, and direction of motion, in the analysis of reaction times. These results significantly extend previous evidence for the involvement of spatial attention in mental arithmetic, showing movement of the external attention focus as a factor directing internal attention in processing numerical information. As a whole, however, the results are incompatible with expectations derived from the strong analogy between operational and representational momenta. We suggest that the full model may be more complex than simply “moving attention along the mental number-line” as a direct counterpart of attention directed at a moving object.

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“…In relation to script-on-cognition effects, habitually reading and writing in a particular direction -for example left to right (e.g., English), right to left (e.g., Arabic) or up-down (e.g., Chinese) -has been shown to have an effect on off-line non-linguistic cognitive processing. For example, robust effects have been found from reading direction on numerical cognition tasks (e.g., Azhar et al 2020;Göbel 2015;Singh et al 2000), spatial and scanning biases in drawing (Faghihi et al 2018(Faghihi et al , 2019Padakannaya et al 2002;Tosun and Vaid 2014;Vaid 1995), and aesthetic preference biases (Friedrich and Elias 2016). Other script-specific contrasts are unlikely to have such an impact as the overt behavior of reading or writing direction.…”

Section: Script-specific Effects On Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Spoken and Written Language on Cognition

Winskel¹

2022

The Routledge Handbook of Asian Linguistics

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Languages are fascinating, complex systems that vary in terms of the linguistic devices and mechanisms that are available to encode our thoughts, ideas, perceptions, and experiences of the world around us. Moreover, the scripts used to encode these languages offer fascinating opportunities to contrast the effects of script-specific features on cognition.The aim of the current chapter is to examine some of the contrasting features of languages and scripts and to what extent they differentially affect cognition in observable and measurable ways. Advances in technology offer novel approaches to addressing these questions. Specific reference has been made to the characteristics of the Thai language and its script. The main characteristics of the Thai language and its script are reviewed prior to examining some research on the relationship between language and cognition. Initially, the focus is on expression of motion events in relation to (1) satellite-framed (e.g., English), verb-framed (e.g., French) and equipollently framed (e.g., Thai and Chinese) languages and in reference to (2) the presence or absence of durative aspectual marking. Subsequently, a focus on script-specific features is reviewed in relation to (3) linear-nonlinear spatial configuration of scripts and (4) the presence or absence of mirror letter pairs (e.g., b vs. d or p vs. q). We also make some suggestions for future research utilizing some of the distinctive features of the languages and writing systems of the Asian region.

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Reading direction and spatial effects in parity and arithmetic tasks

Cited by 5 publications

References 41 publications

Not toeing the number line for simple arithmetic: Two large-n conceptual replications of Mathieu et al. (Cognition, 2016, Experiment 1)

Not toeing the number line for simple arithmetic: Two large-n conceptual replications of Mathieu et al. (Cognition, 2016, Experiment 1)

Perceived Motion and Operational Momentum: How Speed, Distance, and Time Influence Two-Digit Arithmetic

Effects of Spoken and Written Language on Cognition

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