Abstract
Numbers are represented spatially. Evidence for this comes from the SNARC effect (Spatial-NumericalAssociation of Response Codes). Small numerals are accessed faster on the left and large ones on the right. Theeffect assumes a mental number line. However, in A Theory of Magnitude (ATOM), both numerical (discrete)and non-numerical (continuous) quantities share a common processing mechanism. Thus, the SNARC effectmay be an instance of a general SQUARC effect (Spatial-Quantity Association of Response Codes). We devisedtwo experiments to test this hypothesis. First, 85 Japanese students bisected a quantity of water. They showedbisection bias by overestimating the right cup and underestimating the left one. In the second experiment, small continuous magnitudes shifted covert visual attention leftward, with larger ones shifting it rightward. Our datasuggest that SNARC may be part of SQUARC, and the mental number line may be in fact a mental quantity line.
Highlights
The perceptual and cognitive systems of humans and animals possess remarkable abilities to estimate environmental magnitudes
Six cups were mentioned, we reduced to three by inserting one into another to make the walls of the paper cups thicker to avoid any possibility of see through
A strong unilateral bias for the right hand was especially apparent among male participants, but not among females
Summary
The perceptual and cognitive systems of humans and animals possess remarkable abilities to estimate environmental magnitudes. Both systems are crucial for successful survival of active organisms that perform cognitive and behavioral tasks. External stimulations create constant environmental flux in which different sizes, quantities, and magnitudes have to be estimated efficiently. Humans have developed a highly organized and meaningful system of numerals, mostly used to express different discrete magnitudes. These symbols enable practical and conceptual calculations as well as estimations of varieties of environmental magnitudes to an enormous extent. The numbers are precise in symbolizing magnitudes, even enabling us to understand concepts like infinity (e.g., the number “π”)
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