Abstract
Performance in a non-symbolic comparison task in which participants are asked to indicate the larger numerosity of two dot arrays, is assumed to be supported by the Approximate Number System (ANS). This system allows participants to judge numerosity independently from other visual cues. Supporting this idea, previous studies indicated that numerosity can be processed when visual cues are controlled for. Consequently, distinct types of visual cue control are assumed to be interchangeable. However, a previous study showed that the type of visual cue control affected performance using a simultaneous presentation of the stimuli in numerosity comparison. In the current study, we explored whether the influence of the type of visual cue control on performance disappeared when sequentially presenting each stimulus in numerosity comparison. While the influence of the applied type of visual cue control was significantly more evident in the simultaneous condition, sequentially presenting the stimuli did not completely exclude the influence of distinct types of visual cue control. Altogether, these results indicate that the implicit assumption that it is possible to compare performances across studies with a differential visual cue control is unwarranted and that the influence of the type of visual cue control partly depends on the presentation format of the stimuli.
Highlights
It is commonly assumed that an innate system exists that enables humans and non-human species to compare non-symbolic numerosities: the Approximate Number System (ANS; Dehaene, 1997; Feigenson et al, 2004)
We explored whether the influence of the type of visual cue control on performance disappeared when sequentially presenting each stimulus in numerosity comparison
Pairwise t-tests within each presentation format indicated significant differences between the two types of visual cue control in both the simultaneous, t(39) = 12.97, p < 0.001, d = 3.34, and the sequential condition, t(39) = 8.21, p < 0.001, d = 1.74, with a better performance in the simple sensory control condition (M = 95%, SD = 3.76%, and M = 90%, SD = 5.31%, respectively) compared to the multi-sensory control condition (M = 83%, SD = 5.86%, and M = 80%, SD = 8.05%, respectively; see Figure 3C)
Summary
It is commonly assumed that an innate system exists that enables humans and non-human species to compare non-symbolic numerosities (e.g., arrays of dots): the Approximate Number System (ANS; Dehaene, 1997; Feigenson et al, 2004). The acuity of the ANS varies from individual to individual (Halberda et al, 2008) and can be measured by means of a comparison task. In such a task, participants are instructed to indicate the larger of two presented numerosities (Buckley and Gillman, 1974; Piazza et al, 2010), leading to ratio-dependent performance. Computational accounts suggest that the ANS disposes over the robust capacity to extract pure numerosity independently from other co-varying visual cues, such as for instance the cumulative area or area extended by the dots. The neural model of Dehaene and Changeux (1993)
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