Abstract
There is strong evidence for a link between numerical and spatial processing. However, whether this association is based on a common general magnitude system is far from conclusive and the impact of development is not yet known. Hence, the present study aimed to investigate the association between discrete non-symbolic number processing (comparison of dot arrays) and continuous spatial processing (comparison of angle sizes) in children between the third and sixth grade (N = 367). Present findings suggest that the processing of comparisons of number of dots or angle are related to each other, but with angle processing developing earlier and being more easily comparable than discrete number representations for children of this age range. Accordingly, results favor the existence of a more complex underlying magnitude system consisting of dissociated but closely interacting representations for continuous and discrete magnitudes.
Highlights
Differentiation Between Different Aspects of Number and Space ProcessingA strong association between numbers and space has been reported over the last years of research
There is no doubt about a strong connection between number and space, if both representation originate from a single general magnitude system is contradictious and further research is needed
The present study aimed to further elucidate the association between number and space, which has been proposed to rely on a common general magnitude system (Walsh, 2003; Bueti and Walsh, 2009)
Summary
Differentiation Between Different Aspects of Number and Space ProcessingA strong association between numbers and space has been reported over the last years of research. It is very important to differentiate between various characteristics of numerical and spatial processing and their interrelation to gain further understanding and disentangle the complex numberspace association. In this vein, Patro et al (2014) proposed a more differentiated discussion of the number-space interaction since different numerical and spatial tasks target different underlying representations. According to their four level system of spatial-numerical associations, the authors suggest two categories with a non-directional number-space mapping: (1) crossdimensional magnitude processing (number: cardinal, space: non-directional), and (2) association between spatial and numerical intervals (number: interval, space: non-directional). The other two categories refer to directional number-space mapping requiring spatial directionality in a sense that larger numbers are generally associated with the right side in Western cultures, while smaller numbers are associated with the left: (3) associations between cardinalities
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