Spontaneous mapping of number and space in adults and young children

Mature representations of space and number are connected to one another in ways suggestive of a 'mental number line', but this mapping could either be a cultural construction or a reflection of a more fundamental link between the domains of number and geometry. Using a manual bisection paradigm, we tested for number line representations in adults, young school children, and preschool children. Non-symbolic numerical displays systematically distorted localization of the midpoint of a horizontal line at all three ages. Numerical and spatial representations therefore are linked prior to the onset of formal instruction, in a manner that suggests a privileged relation between spatial and numerical cognition.

[1]  R. Siegler,et al.  The Development of Numerical Estimation , 2003, Psychological science.

[2]  S. Dehaene,et al.  Unconscious semantic priming extends to novel unseen stimuli , 2001, Cognition.

[3]  Wim Fias,et al.  The mental representation of ordinal sequences is spatially organized , 2003, Cognition.

[4]  D. Berch,et al.  Extracting parity and magnitude from Arabic numerals: developmental changes in number processing and mental representation. , 1999, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[5]  Patricia Howlin,et al.  Origins of cognitive skills , 1986 .

[6]  E. Spelke,et al.  Log or linear? Distinct intuitions of the number scale in Western and Amazonian cultures , 2008 .

[7]  M. Posner,et al.  Attention and the detection of signals. , 1980, Journal of experimental psychology.

[8]  Kelly S. Mix,et al.  Number Versus Contour Length in Infants' Discrimination of Small Visual Sets , 1999 .

[9]  Giuseppe Vallar,et al.  Numbers and space: a cognitive illusion? , 2005, Experimental Brain Research.

[10]  Elizabeth M Brannon,et al.  Basic Math in Monkeys and College Students , 2007, PLoS biology.

[11]  Vincent Walsh.  A theory of magnitude: common cortical metrics of time, space and quantity , 2003, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[12]  W. Fias,et al.  Number sense in children with visuospatial disabilities: Orientation of the mental number line , 2005 .

[13]  S. Dehaene,et al.  The mental representation of parity and number magnitude. , 1993 .

[14]  Patrik Vuilleumier,et al.  The Number Space and Neglect , 2004, Cortex.

[15]  S. Dehaene,et al.  A Magnitude Code Common to Numerosities and Number Symbols in Human Intraparietal Cortex , 2007, Neuron.

[16]  W. Fias.  The Importance of Magnitude Information in Numerical Processing: Evidence from the SNARC Effect , 1996 .

[17]  Pierre Pica,et al.  Log or Linear? Distinct Intuitions of the Number Scale in Western and Amazonian Indigene Cultures , 2008, Science.

[18]  M. Masson,et al.  Using confidence intervals in within-subject designs , 1994, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[19]  Melissa E. Libertus,et al.  Electrophysiological evidence for notation independence in numerical processing , 2007, Behavioral and Brain Functions.

[20]  M. H. Fischer,et al.  Less Attention and More Perception in Cued Line Bisection , 1994, Brain and Cognition.

[21]  S. Dehaene,et al.  The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics. , 1998 .

[22]  K. Priftis,et al.  Brain damage: Neglect disrupts the mental number line , 2002, Nature.

[23]  Samar Zebian,et al.  Linkages between Number Concepts, Spatial Thinking, and Directionality of Writing: The SNARC Effect and the REVERSE SNARC Effect in English and Arabic Monoliterates, Biliterates, and Illiterate Arabic Speakers , 2005 .

[24]  M. McCourt,et al.  Pseudoneglect: a review and meta-analysis of performance factors in line bisection tasks , 2000, Neuropsychologia.

[25]  G. Vallar,et al.  The representational space of numerical magnitude: Illusions of length , 2008, Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[26]  S. Chokron,et al.  Reading habits and line bisection: a developmental approach. , 1995, Brain research. Cognitive brain research.

[27]  Martin H. Fischer,et al.  Spatial representations in number processing--evidence from a pointing task , 2003 .

[28]  R Sun,et al.  Proceedings of the 28th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society , 2006 .

[29]  G. M.,et al.  The Thirteen Books of Euclid's Elements , 1909, Nature.

[30]  W Fias,et al.  Two routes for the processing of verbal numbers: evidence from the SNARC effect , 2001, Psychological research.

[31]  ROBERT S. MOYER,et al.  Time required for Judgements of Numerical Inequality , 1967, Nature.

[32]  Jacqueline Fagard,et al.  The effects of reading-writing direction on the asymmetry of space perception and directional tendencies: A comparison between French and Tunisian children , 2003, Laterality.

[33]  C. Gallistel,et al.  Non-verbal numerical cognition: from reals to integers , 2000, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[34]  Takeshi Hatta,et al.  Spatial structure of quantitative representation of numbers: Evidence from the SNARC effect , 2004, Memory & cognition.

[35]  Elizabeth M Brannon,et al.  Number bias for the discrimination of large visual sets in infancy , 2004, Cognition.

[36]  Peter Brugger,et al.  Stimulus-response compatibility in representational space , 1998, Neuropsychologia.

[37]  D. Boisson,et al.  Does Action Make the Link Between Number and Space Representation? , 2004, Psychological science.

[38]  Clarissa A. Thompson,et al.  Even Early Representations of Numerical Magnitude are Spatially Organized: Evidence for a Directional Magnitude Bias in Pre-Reading Preschoolers , 2006 .

[39]  Pieter Reitsma,et al.  Developing access to number magnitude: a study of the SNARC effect in 7- to 9-year-olds. , 2008, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[40]  Philippe Pinel,et al.  Tuning Curves for Approximate Numerosity in the Human Intraparietal Sulcus , 2004, Neuron.

[41]  Johanna D. Moore,et al.  Proceedings of the 28th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society , 2005 .

[42]  Wim Fias,et al.  The Mental Representation of Ordinal Sequences is Spatially Organised: Evidence from Days of the Week , 2004, Cortex.

[43]  L Girelli,et al.  The development of automaticity in accessing number magnitude. , 2000, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[44]  Michel Loreau,et al.  Functional Diversity of Plant–Pollinator Interaction Webs Enhances the Persistence of Plant Communities , 2005, PLoS biology.

[45]  S. Dehaene.  Varieties of numerical abilities , 1992, Cognition.

[46]  Paul J. Olscamp,et al.  Discourse on method, Optics, Geometry, and Meteorology , 1965 .

[47]  M. H. Fischer,et al.  Number processing induces spatial performance biases , 2001, Neurology.

[48]  Michael D. Dodd,et al.  Perceiving numbers causes spatial shifts of attention , 2003, Nature Neuroscience.