Abstract
Numerical information can be conveyed by either symbolic or nonsymbolic representation. Some symbolic numerals can also be identified as nonsymbolic quantities defined by the number of lines (e.g., I, II, III in Roman and , , in Japanese Kanji and Chinese). Here we report that such multi-representation of magnitude can facilitate the processing of these numerals under certain circumstances. In a magnitude comparison task judging 1 to 9 (except 5) Chinese and Arabic numerals presented at the foveal (at the center) or parafoveal (3° left or right of the center) location, multi-representational small-value Chinese numerals showed a processing advantage over single-representational Arabic numerals and large-value Chinese numerals only in the parafoveal condition, demonstrated by lower error rates and faster reaction times. Further event-related potential (ERP) analysis showed that such a processing advantage was not reflected by traditional ERP components identified in previous studies of number processing, such as N1 or P2p. Instead, the difference was found much later in a N400 component between 300–550 msec over parietal regions, suggesting that those behavioral differences may not be due to early processing of visual identification, but later processing of subitizing or accessing mental number line when lacking attentional resources. These results suggest that there could be three stages of number processing represented separately by the N1, P2p and N400 ERP components. In addition, numerical information can be represented simultaneously by both symbolic and nonsymbolic systems, which will facilitate number processing in certain situations.
Highlights
Number concepts can be represented in two forms
Dehaene's [3] triple-code model suggests that numerical information can be represented as a visual Arabic numeral form, an auditory verbal word frame, or an analogical form serves as a common abstract representation of magnitude information, or internal number line
Participants' performance differed greatly for these two visually and semantically similar numerals (Fig. 2), further indicated that it is the common properties of small Chinese numerals as a whole, rather than the individual characteristic of each numeral per se, that contributes to their processing advantage over small Arabic numerals
Summary
Number concepts can be represented in two forms. One is as a concrete nonsymbolic quantity, such as a set of dots or lines, the other is an abstract symbolic numeral, such as Arabic numerals. Dehaene's [3] triple-code model suggests that numerical information can be represented as a visual Arabic numeral form, an auditory verbal word frame, or an analogical form serves as a common abstract representation of magnitude information, or internal number line. In this triple-code model, Arabic, verbal and analogical magnitude can directly communicate with each other through an asemantic transcoding route. As a contrast to these models with a common abstract representation, Campbell and Clark [4,5] proposed an encodingcomplex model that denies the existence of a single, abstract number representation Instead, they suggested that there is an interactive network of specialized notation-specific codes, including both visual and phonological representations. Based upon neuroimaging studies that revealed notation-dependent activation in the brain, Cohen Kadosh and his colleagues supported this notation-specific representation by suggesting that numbers in different notations can be represented separately in the human parietal lobe, and challenged the abstract representation of numerical information in number processing [6,7,8,9]
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