Spatialization in working memory: can individuals reverse the cultural direction of their thoughts?

Abstract

A recent study based on the SPoARC effect (spatial position association response codes) showed that culture heavily shapes cognition and more specifically the way thought is organized; when Western adults are asked to keep in mind a sequence of colors, they mentally organize them from left to right, whereas right-to-left reading/writing adults spatialize them in the opposite direction. Here, we investigate if the spontaneous direction of spatialization in Westerners can be reversed. Lists of five consonants were presented auditorily at a rate of 3 s per item, participants were asked to mentally organize the memoranda from right to left. Each list was followed by a probe. Participants had to indicate whether the probe was part of the sequence by pressing a "yes" key or a "no" key with the left or right index finger. Left/right-hand key assignment was switched after half of the trials were completed. The results showed a reverse SPoARC effect that was comparable in magnitude to the spontaneous left-to-right SPoARC effect found in a previous study. Overall, our results suggest that individuals can reverse the cultural direction of their thoughts.

A gifted SNARC? Directional spatial–numerical associations in gifted children with high-level math skills do not differ from controls

“…Potentially, one could use the interference measure in the physical size condition as a measure of automatic magnitude processing of numbers (numerical magnitude affects the decisions about physical size of presented digits). However, at the same time, the observed effect is not only measuring automatic number magnitude processing, but also the efficiency of inhibition processes (see Cipora et al, 2020b ). On the one hand, we could expect the gifted children to process magnitude automatically (assuming there are still any differences in that respect), but also we would expect them to have more efficient inhibition and interference control processes.…”

“…These interpretations refer to (1) differences in automatic magnitude processing, and (2) representation abstractness. This idea was recently elaborated in a model framework by Cipora et al ( 2020b ). The model suggests multiple mechanisms on why the SNARC effect should or should not be related to math skills.…”

“…At the same time, future studies should consider multiple mechanisms on how math skills might relate to the SNARC effect (Cipora et al, 2020b ), and the fact that these mechanisms might act in opposite direction. If this is the case, despite the lack of differences in the SNARC effect, groups might still differ in processes driving the SNARC effect (or in relative contributions of these processes).…”

“…Math skills can be considered a natural candidate to be a correlate of the SNARC effect: elementary spatial mapping of numbers might be related to the efficiency of more advanced number processing such as arithmetic (see Cipora, He, & Nuerk, 2020b ). Note that similar discussions on whether high/low cognitive ability in a specific domain modulates other processes and representations are present in other domains of cognitive psychology as well, and similar to this discussion, they also do not bring very consistent results.…”

Spatial–numerical associations from a novel paradigm support the mental number line account

“…That is, larger objects typically extend further upward in one's field of view (but see Holmes & Lourenco, 2012). By contrast, they suggest that horizontal (i.e., left-to-right) d-SNAs are culturally mediated by experiences such a reading direction (Guida et al, 2020;Shaki et al, 2009) and, thus, are necessarily secondary to vertical d-SNAs.…”