The effect of orientation on number word processing

Besner and Coltheart [Besner, D., & Coltheart, M. (1979). Ideographic and alphabetic processing in skilled reading of English. Neuropsychologia, 17, 467-472] found a size congruity effect for Arabic numbers but not for number words. They proposed that Arabic numbers and number words are processed in different ways. However, in their study orientation of the stimuli and notation were confounded. In the present study, it is found that orientation of number words affects numerical processing. Orientation modulates both the size congruity effect and the distance effect; horizontal presentation produces similar results to those produced by Arabic numbers whereas vertical orientation produces different results. Accordingly, it is proposed that our cognitive system is endowed with two different mechanisms for numerical processing; one relies on a visual-spatial code and the other on a verbal code.     

A common representation for semantic and physical properties: a cognitive-anatomical approach

This is the first report of a mutual interference between luminance and numerical value in magnitude judgments. Instead of manipulating the physical size of compared numbers, which is the traditional approach in size congruity studies, luminance levels were manipulated. The results yielded the classical congruity effect. Participants took more time to process numerically larger numbers when they were brighter than when they were darker, and more time to process a darker number when its numerical value was smaller than when it was larger. On the basis of neurophysiological studies of magnitude comparison and interference between semantic and physical information, it is proposed that the processing of semantic and physical magnitude information is carried out by a shared brain structure. It is suggested that this brain area, the left intraparietal sulcus, subserves various comparison processes by representing various quantities on an amodal magnitude scale.     

The importance of irrelevant-dimension variability in the stroop flanker task

Two experiments in which the Stroop flanker task was used were conducted in order to examine the influence of irrelevant dimension invariance on congruency effects. Participants responded manually to a central color patch flanked by a Stroop stimulus. In Experiment 1, invariance in flanker location was found to have no influence on word and color congruency effects. In contrast, invariance of flanker identity led to the disappearance of congruency effects. Experiment 2 indicated that the elimination of a congruency effect was restricted to the dimension that remained constant and did not influence the congruency effect of the other dimension that was presented at the same location. Results suggest that variance is a prerequisite to congruity effects, determining the activation of irrelevant dimensions.     

Numerical-spatial representation affects spatial coding: binding errors across the numerical distance effect

Does numerical-spatial representation affect feature binding? Studies of visual attention show that poor spatial coding leads to illusory conjunctions (ICs). In numerical cognition, it has been shown that numbers and space are not totally dissociated. This association underlies the numerical distance effect (DE): faster responses as the distance between the compared digits becomes larger (2 7 vs. 2 4). We used the DE to test whether numerical-spatial representation is available to visual processes that rely on spatial coding, such as feature binding. Participants reported the larger of two colored numbers. Both numerical distance (distances 2 and 5) and number–space congruity (e.g., congruent pair, 1 3; incongruent pair, 3 1) were analyzed. Results showed a higher proportion of ICs for distance 2 than for distance 5, providing strong evidence that numerical-spatial representation (1) entails a strong location code and (2) is available to visual processes that rely on location information.     

Tactile enumeration of small quantities using one hand

Our study explores various aspects of enumerating small quantities in the tactile modality. Fingertips of one hand were stimulated by a vibro-tactile apparatus (for 100/800 ms). Between 1 and 5 stimuli were presented to the right or the left hand and applied to neighboring (e.g., thumb–index–middle) or non-neighboring (e.g., thumb–middle–pinkie) fingers. The results showed a moderate increase in RT up to 4 stimuli and then a decrease for 5 stimuli. Right hand stimulation evoked more accurate performance than left hand stimulation only under short exposures (100 ms). Importantly, when the stimuli were presented to neighboring fingers, the accuracy rate was higher and the RT was faster than when presented to non-neighboring fingers. We discuss the results and suggest that when the stimuli are presented to one hand the subitizing range is 4 rather than 3. Furthermore, the right hand advantage and the efficiency for neighboring fingers are further support for the association between number and spatial arrangement of the fingers.     

The numerical distance effect is task dependent

Number comparison tasks produce a distance effect e.g., Moyer & Landauer (Nature 215: 1519-1520, 1967). It has been suggested that this effect supports the existence of semantic mental representations of numbers. In a matching task, a distance effect also appears, which suggests that the effect has an automatic semantic component. Recently, Cohen (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 16: 332-336, 2009) suggested that in both automatic and intentional tasks, the distance effect might reflect not a semantic number representation, but a physical similarity between digits. The present article (1) compares the distance effect in the automatic matching task with that in the intentional number comparison task and suggests that, in the latter, the distance effect does include an additional semantic component; and (2) indicates that the distance effect in the standard automatic matching task is questionable and that its appearance in previous matching tasks was based on the specific analysis and design that were applied.     

A unique asymmetrical stroop effect in absolute pitch possessors

The Stroop task has been employed to study automaticity or failures of selective attention for many years. The effect is known to be asymmetrical, with words affecting color naming but not vice versa. In the current work two auditory-visual Stroop-like tasks were devised in order to study the automaticity of pitch processing in both absolute pitch (AP) possessors and musically trained controls without AP (nAP). In the tone naming task, participants were asked to name the auditory tone while ignoring a visual note name. In the note naming task, participants were asked to read a note name while ignoring the auditory tone. The nAP group showed a significant congruency effect only in the tone naming task, whereas AP possessors showed the reverse pattern, with a significant congruency effect only in the note reading task. Thus, AP possessors were unable to ignore the auditory tone when asked to read the note, but were unaffected by the verbal note name when asked to label the auditory tone. The results suggest that pitch identification in participants endowed with AP ability is automatic and impossible to suppress.     

Is it for real? Evaluating authenticity of musical pitch-space synesthesia

In spatial-sequence synesthesia, ordinal sequences are visualized in explicit spatial locations. We examined a recently documented subtype in which musical notes are represented in spatial configurations, to verify consistency and automaticity of musical pitch-space (M-S) synesthesia. An M-S synesthete performed a mapping pre-task (Exp. 1) used to indicate the locations of 7 auditory or visually presented notes, in 2 sessions a month apart. Results revealed strong correlations between sessions, suggesting the synesthete's musical forms were consistent over time. Experiment 2 assessed automaticity of M-S synesthesia. The same synesthete and matched controls preformed a spatial Stroop-like task. Participants were presented with an auditory or visual musical note and then had to reach for an asterisk (target) with a mouse cursor. The target appeared in a compatible or incompatible location (according to the synesthete's spatial representation). A compatibility effect was found for the synesthete but not for controls. The synesthete was significantly faster when the target appeared in compatible locations than in incompatible ones. Our findings show that for synesthetes, auditory and visually presented notes automatically trigger attention to specific spatial locations according to their specific M-S associations.     

Reflexive orienting by central arrows: Evidence from the inattentional blindness task

It was demonstrated that central arrows produce orienting of attention even when they are nonpredictive as to the target location. This finding was suggested to indicate reflexive orienting of attention by central arrows. However, it is not clear whether central arrows can produce an attentional effect without awareness. In two experiments, using a variation of the inattentional blindness task, we examine whether orienting of attention by a central arrow can be demonstrated without conscious perception of the arrow. We found that attention could be directed to the cued location even when the arrow was not consciously perceived.     

The transition of object to mental manipulation: beyond a species-specific view of intelligence

Animal Cognition - Many attempts have been made to classify and evaluate the nature of intelligence in humans and other species (referred to as the ‘g’ factor in the former and the G...