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A Unitary or Multiple Representations of Numerical Magnitude? – the Case of Structure in Symbolic and Non-Symbolic Quantities

Currently, there is a controversial debate on whether there is an abstract representation of number magnitude, multiple different ones, or multiple different ones that project onto a unitary representation. The current study aimed at evaluating this issue by means of a magnitude comparison task invo...

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Autores principales: Moeller, Korbinian, Klein, Elise, Nuerk, Hans-Christoph, Cohen Kadosh, Roi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Research Foundation 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3374956/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22712021
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00191
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author Moeller, Korbinian
Klein, Elise
Nuerk, Hans-Christoph
Cohen Kadosh, Roi
author_facet Moeller, Korbinian
Klein, Elise
Nuerk, Hans-Christoph
Cohen Kadosh, Roi
author_sort Moeller, Korbinian
collection PubMed
description Currently, there is a controversial debate on whether there is an abstract representation of number magnitude, multiple different ones, or multiple different ones that project onto a unitary representation. The current study aimed at evaluating this issue by means of a magnitude comparison task involving Arabic numbers and structured as well as unstructured non-symbolic patterns of squares. In particular, we were interested whether a specific numerical effect, the unit-decade compatibility effect reflecting decomposed processing of tens and units complying with the place-value structure of the Arabic number system, is affected by input notation. Indeed, a reliable unit-decade compatibility effect was observed in the symbolic-digital notation condition but was absent for unstructured non-symbolic notation. However, for structured non-symbolic notation a – albeit negative – compatibility effect was observed as well. Theses results are hard to reconcile with the notion of an abstract representation of number magnitude. Instead, our data support the existence of multiple representations of numerical magnitude. In addition, the current data indicate that it may not be a question of symbolic vs. non-symbolic notation only but also an issue of the structuring of the input notation. While unstructured non-symbolic quantities seemed to be processed holistically we found evidence suggesting at least partially decomposed processing not only for symbolic Arabic numbers but also for structured non-symbolic quantities.
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spelling pubmed-33749562012-06-18 A Unitary or Multiple Representations of Numerical Magnitude? – the Case of Structure in Symbolic and Non-Symbolic Quantities Moeller, Korbinian Klein, Elise Nuerk, Hans-Christoph Cohen Kadosh, Roi Front Psychol Psychology Currently, there is a controversial debate on whether there is an abstract representation of number magnitude, multiple different ones, or multiple different ones that project onto a unitary representation. The current study aimed at evaluating this issue by means of a magnitude comparison task involving Arabic numbers and structured as well as unstructured non-symbolic patterns of squares. In particular, we were interested whether a specific numerical effect, the unit-decade compatibility effect reflecting decomposed processing of tens and units complying with the place-value structure of the Arabic number system, is affected by input notation. Indeed, a reliable unit-decade compatibility effect was observed in the symbolic-digital notation condition but was absent for unstructured non-symbolic notation. However, for structured non-symbolic notation a – albeit negative – compatibility effect was observed as well. Theses results are hard to reconcile with the notion of an abstract representation of number magnitude. Instead, our data support the existence of multiple representations of numerical magnitude. In addition, the current data indicate that it may not be a question of symbolic vs. non-symbolic notation only but also an issue of the structuring of the input notation. While unstructured non-symbolic quantities seemed to be processed holistically we found evidence suggesting at least partially decomposed processing not only for symbolic Arabic numbers but also for structured non-symbolic quantities. Frontiers Research Foundation 2012-06-14 /pmc/articles/PMC3374956/ /pubmed/22712021 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00191 Text en Copyright © 2012 Moeller, Klein, Nuerk and Cohen Kadosh. http://www.frontiersin.org/licenseagreement This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited.
spellingShingle Psychology
Moeller, Korbinian
Klein, Elise
Nuerk, Hans-Christoph
Cohen Kadosh, Roi
A Unitary or Multiple Representations of Numerical Magnitude? – the Case of Structure in Symbolic and Non-Symbolic Quantities
title A Unitary or Multiple Representations of Numerical Magnitude? – the Case of Structure in Symbolic and Non-Symbolic Quantities
title_full A Unitary or Multiple Representations of Numerical Magnitude? – the Case of Structure in Symbolic and Non-Symbolic Quantities
title_fullStr A Unitary or Multiple Representations of Numerical Magnitude? – the Case of Structure in Symbolic and Non-Symbolic Quantities
title_full_unstemmed A Unitary or Multiple Representations of Numerical Magnitude? – the Case of Structure in Symbolic and Non-Symbolic Quantities
title_short A Unitary or Multiple Representations of Numerical Magnitude? – the Case of Structure in Symbolic and Non-Symbolic Quantities
title_sort unitary or multiple representations of numerical magnitude? – the case of structure in symbolic and non-symbolic quantities
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3374956/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22712021
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00191
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