SNARC (spatial–numerical association of response codes) meets SPARC (spatial–pitch association of response codes): Automaticity and interdependency in compatibility effects

Abstract

Concepts, including the mental number line, or addressing pitch as high and low, suggest that the spatial-numerical and spatial-pitch association of response codes (SNARC and SPARC) effects are domain-specific and thus independent. Alternatively, there may be dependencies between these effects, because they share common automatic or controlled decision mechanisms. In two experiments, participants were presented with spoken numbers in different pitches; their numerical value, pitch, and response compatibility were varied systematically. This allowed us to study SNARC and SPARC effects in a factorial design (see also Fischer, Riello, Giordano, & Rusconi, 2013 ). Participants judged the stimuli on numerical magnitude, pitch, or parity (odd-even). In all tasks, the SNARC and SPARC effects had superadditive interactions. These were interpreted as both effects sharing a common mechanism. The task variation probes the mechanism: In the magnitude judgement task, numerical magnitude was explicit, whereas pitch was implicit; in the pitch judgement task, it was vice versa. In the parity judgement task, both dimensions were implicit. Regardless of whether they were implicit or explicit, both SNARC and SPARC effects occurred in all tasks. We concluded that by not requiring focal attention the common mechanism operates automatically.

Space in numerical and ordinal information: A common construct?

“…Interactions with space are well documented in different paradigms for several variations of magnitude information, such as pitch volume and height (Heinemann, Pfister, & Janczyk, 2013;Lidji, Kolinsky, Lochy, & Morais, 2007;Weis, Estner, van Leeuwen, & Lachmann, 2016), time (Ishihara, Keller, Rossetti, & Prinz, 2008;Vallesi, Binns, & Shallice, 2008), or response force (Vierck & Kiesel, 2010). Task-irrelevant quantity information was sufficient to influence response decisions in parity and comparison judgment tasks, free-choice and fair decisions (Schroeder & Pfister, 2015;Shaki & Fischer, 2014), and attention (Fischer, Castel, Dodd, & Pratt, 2003), corroborating the automaticity of spatial activations throughout a variety of cognitions and actions.…”

Representation of pitch in horizontal space and its dependence on musical and instrumental experience.

“…Two studies in which this was the case used piano and/or vocal sounds as stimuli (Weis et al, 2015;2016). Using sounds with particular timbres (e.g.…”

Numerical value biases sound localization

“…Perhaps the best-known finding that relates numerosity to spatial representations is the SNARC effect 16 , which is present for visual as well as acoustic stimuli 26 – 28 . The basic SNARC effect is that in choice reaction time tasks, where response speed is emphasized, subjects respond faster to smaller numbers with their left hand and larger numbers with their right hand.…”