Symbolic number comparison and number priming do not rely on the same mechanism

Abstract

In elementary symbolic number processing, the comparison distance effect (in a comparison task, the task is more difficult with smaller numerical distance between the values) and the priming distance effect (in a number processing task, actual number is easier to process with a numerically close previous number) are two essential phenomena. While a dominant model, the approximate number system model, assumes that the two effects rely on the same mechanism, some other models, such as the discrete semantic system model, assume that the two effects are rooted in different generators. In a correlational study, here we investigate the relation of the two effects. Critically, the reliability of the effects is considered; therefore, a possible null result cannot be attributed to the attenuation of low reliability. The results showed no strong correlation between the two effects, even though appropriate reliabilities were provided. These results confirm the models of elementary number processing that assume distinct mechanisms behind number comparison and number priming.