Additions are biased by operands: evidence from repeated versus different operands

Abstract

Recent evidence led to the conclusion that addition problems are biased towards overestimation, regardless of whether information is conveyed by symbolic or non-symbolic stimuli (the Operational Momentum effect). The present study focuses on the role of operands in the overestimation of addition problems. Based on the tie effect, and on recent evidence that the nature of operands biases addition problems towards an underestimation when operands are repeated, but towards an overestimation when different, we aim here to further elucidate the contribution of operands to addition problems. Experiment 1 replicates the underestimation of repeated-operand additions and overestimation of different-operand additions, with large numbers (around 50), and explores whether these effects also apply to small operand additions (around 10). Experiment 2 further explores the overestimation of different-operand additions by investigating the roles of operand order and numerical distance between operands. The results show that both factors have an impact on the overestimation size, but are not crucial for overestimation to occur. The results are discussed in terms of arithmetic strategies, spatial organization of numbers and magnitude representation.