Abstract
Evidence from multiple studies conducted in the past few decades converges on the conclusion that numerical properties can be associated with specific directions in space. Such spatial-numerical associations (SNAs), as a signature of elementary number processing, seem to be a likely correlate of math skills. Nevertheless, almost three decades of research on the spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect, the hallmark of SNAs, has not provided conclusive results on whether there is a relation with math skills. Here, going beyond reviewing the existing literature on the topic, we try to answer a more fundamental question about why the SNARC effect should (and should not) be related to math skills. We propose a multiroute model framework for a SNARC-math skills relationship. We conclude that the relationship is not straightforward and that several other factors should be considered, which under certain circumstances or in certain groups can cause effects of opposite directions. The model can account for conflicting results, and thus may be helpful for deriving predictions in future studies.
Highlights
Intuitions that space and numbers are somehow related were already expressed by Immanuel Kant in the 18th century.[1]
We tried to go beyond the discussion about whether the spatial–numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect correlates with math skills and tried to address the more basic question of why these two should be related
Our model provides a tentative explanation for the puzzling results presented in the literature, such as numerous null results and conflicting data on the SNARC effect/math skills relationship in children and adults
Summary
The spatial–numerical association of response codes effect and math skills: why related?. We first outline the multitude of SNAs and discuss their hallmark effect, the spatial–numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect For this effect, we propose a new model framework for how it is generated and modulated and why it does or does not correlate with math skills. The reaction pattern (or spatial biases or biases in random number generation, for example) can implicitly measure associations between numbers and space so that participants are not directly asked In such implicit measures (like the IAT or a SNA task), we can directly observe the behavior (e.g., the target category is often mistakenly responded to with the same key as positive objects, when it should be responded to with negative ones, or a small number is responded to with the left-hand key even though the task instruction requires it to be responded to with the right hand). This framework may turn out to be useful for formulating and testing predictions regarding other SNA types in the future and, when a sufficient body of empirical evidence accumulates, be modified
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