Abstract
Number magnitude estimation has been investigated over the last decades using different tasks including non-symbolic numerosity but also number line estimation tasks. Recently, a bi-directional mapping process was suggested for numerosity estimation accounting for underestimation in a perception version of the task (i.e., indicating the number of non-symbolic dots in a set) and overestimation in the corresponding production task (i.e., produce the number of dots indicated by a symbolic number). In the present study, we evaluated the generalizability of these estimation biases in perception and production tasks to bounded and unbounded number line estimation. Importantly, target numbers were underestimated/overestimated by participants in the perception/production version of numerosity estimation as well as unbounded number line estimation. However, this pattern was reversed for bounded number line estimation. Thereby, the present data indicate a conceptual similarity of unbounded number line estimation and the established non-symbolic numerosity estimation task as a measure of numerical estimation. Accordingly, this corroborates the notion that unbounded number line estimation may reflect a purer measure of number magnitude representation than the bounded task version. Furthermore, our findings strengthen the bi-directional mapping hypothesis for numerical estimation by providing evidence for its generalizability to unbounded number line estimation for the first time.
Highlights
Magnitude estimation tasks are typically employed to investigate numerical cognition
For (3) bounded number line estimation we did not have any specific expectation in both versions of the task. Our study addressed this issue by a systematic comparison between estimation patterns from both bounded and unbounded number line estimation with analogue numerosity estimation
We used the average mean of both versions of the perception numerosity estimation task as dependent variable for the ANOVA because the correlation between REE in both versions was r(75) = .89, p < .001, and sufficiently high to pool the respective means
Summary
Magnitude estimation tasks are typically employed to investigate numerical cognition. Non-symbolic stimuli like collections of dots or sequences of sounds are used to assess the underlying representation of number magnitude. Participants have to estimate their numerosity producing symbolic outputs such as Arabic or oral verbal numerals (e.g., [1],[2]). The (spatial) representation of number magnitude is often investigated using symbolic stimuli in tasks such as number line estimation (e.g., [3]). Similarities and differences in performance patterns for non-symbolic numerosity estimation and number line estimation have hardly been investigated.
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