Response Codes Effect Research Articles

The Spatial-Number Association of Response Codes Effect in the Processing of the Cylinders with Different Height

When the numbers randomly presented in the center of the computer screen were sorted using both their left and right hands and quickly responded by pressing a button, the subjects always responded faster with their left hand for small numbers and faster with their right hand for large numbers. This phenomenon is called the Spatial-Number Association of Response Codes Effect. Although the Spatial-Number Association of Response Codes Effect has been found in all forms of digital processing, it is not clear whether the effect exists in cylinder classification. In this study, a rapid presentation stimulus classification paradigm was used to investigate the spatial-number association of response codes effect and its automatic mechanism in the processing of the cylinders with different height. The results showed that: (1) In the cylinders height classification task, the lower cylinders were respond to faster with the left hand than the right hand, and the higher cylinders were respond to faster with the right hand than the left hand. (2) In the cylinders color classification task, the lower cylinders were still respond to faster with the left hand than the right hand, and the higher cylinders were still respond to faster with the right hand than the left hand. These results show that the spatial-number association of response codes effect also can exist in the cylinders classification, and this effect can be activated automatically in the cylinder height irrelevant classification task.

The Impact of Coding Levels of Magnitude and of Spatial-Direction on the Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes Effect of Negative Numbers.

Whether negative numbers have a fixed spatial–numerical association of response codes effect (SNARC effect), and (if they have) whether the spatial representation of negative numbers is associated with negative numbers’ absolute or signed values remains controversial. In this study, through three experiments, the coding level of the magnitude and the spatial-direction is manipulated. In the first experiment, participants are required to code the magnitude and spatial-direction explicitly by using a magnitude classification task. In the second experiment, participants are forced to code the magnitude implicitly as well as to code the spatial-direction explicitly by utilizing a cuing task. In the third experiment, participants are obliged to code the magnitude explicitly as well as to code the spatial-direction implicitly by adopting a magnitude and arrow-direction classification tasks with Go/No-Go responses. The results show that (1) the absolute value of negative numbers associates with space when the magnitude of negative numbers is explicitly coded, no matter employing the explicit or implicit spatial-direction; (2) the signed value of negative numbers associates with space under the condition of implicit magnitude as well as explicit spatial-direction. In conclusion, the current study indicates that the SNARC effect of negative numbers is variable in different conditions, and the type of SNARC effect about negative numbers is modulated by the joint coding level of the magnitude and spatial-direction.

The Effect of Verbal Task Instruction on Spatial-Numerical Associations of Response Codes Effect Coding of Spatial-Numerical Associations: Evidence From Event-Related Potential.

The spatial-numerical associations of response codes (SNARC) effect reveals that individuals can represent numbers spatially. In this study, event-related potential (ERP) technology was used to probe the effect of verbal-spatial task instructions on spatial-numerical association coding by using digit parity and magnitude judgment tasks, with the numbers 1–9 (except 5) and Chinese word labels (“left” and “right”) as experimental materials. The behavioral results of Experiment 1 showed that the SNARC effect was mainly based on verbal-spatial coding and appeared when the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the presentation of the verbal labels and the target digit was 0 ms. ERP results did not reveal any significant SNARC-related effects in either the N1 or P3 components. The behavioral results of Experiment 2 again showed that the SNARC effect was dominated by verbal-spatial coding. ERP results showed that significant effects related to verbal-spatial coding were found in both the early positive deflection of the stimulus-locked lateralized readiness potential (S-LRP) and the latency of the response-locked LRP (R-LRP). Hence, in this study, the nature of the spatial coding of the digit magnitudes was influenced by the processing of the word labels and affected both the response selection and response preparation stages.

The neural mechanism of spatial-positional association in working memory: A fMRI study

In the last decade, research has reported that items at the beginning of a memorized sequence are responded to faster with the left hand, whereas items at the end are responded to faster with the right hand. This Spatial-Positional Associations of Response Codes effect has been extensively studied using behavioral methods. However, the neural networks underlying it remain unclear. We found using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that the dorsal attention network was involved in spatial-positional associations, in particular a region of the right superior frontal cortex / pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), within which neural activity correlated with behavioral measures of the strength of spatial-positional associations. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis revealed functional connectivity between this area and other regions of the dorsal attentional network including the SMA, and with the hippocampal-retrosplenial network. In contrast, explicit processing of serial order independent of spatial-positional associations was related to activity in the inferior parietal cortex. Our results provide new insight into positional coding theories of working memory, including the mental whiteboard hypothesis. They suggest that the behavioral effects of positional coding (congruency between hand and ordinal position within the list) are mediated through spatial and motor control maps in the dorsal attentional system.

The spatial-numerical association of response codes effect and math skills: why related?

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.

Spatial–numerical association of response code effect as a window to mental representation of magnitude in long-term memory among Hebrew-speaking children

The well-known spatial–numerical association of response code (SNARC) effect supports the idea that the mental number line (MNL) is organized from left to right in participants writing from left to right. In Arabic speakers writing from right to left, the direction of the SNARC effect is reversed. Until recently, no consistent numerical–spatial associations were reported in Hebrew speakers, who write letters from right to left and write numbers from left to right. However, a left-to-right SNARC effect was recently demonstrated in adult Hebrew readers by reducing the markedness association of response code (MARC) effect, which masks the SNARC effect. Adult Hebrew speakers (especially university students) are skilled English readers and writers, supporting the claim that the direction of reading is not the sole factor contributing to direction of the emergence of the left-to-right organization of the MNL. Thus, to understand the effect of reading habits on the SNARC effect, here we demonstrate the SNARC in young Hebrew-speaking children who read Hebrew letters from right to left, read numbers from left to right, and had little experience in writing English letters from left to right. Our findings, therefore, are innovative in providing supporting evidence for the claim that the direction of reading is not the sole factor contributing to direction of the emergence of the left-to-right organization of the MNL.

The influence of time units on the flexibility of the spatial numerical association of response codes effect.

The Spatial Numerical/Temporal Association of Response Codes (SNARC/STEARC) effects are considered evidence of the association between number or time and space, respectively. As the SNARC effect was proposed by Dehaene, Bossini, and Giraux in 1993, several studies have suggested that different tasks and cultural factors can affect the flexibility of the SNARC effect. This study explored the influence of time units on the flexibility of the SNARC effect via materials with Arabic numbers, which were suffixed with time units and subjected to magnitude comparison tasks. Experiment 1 replicated the SNARC effect for numbers and the STEARC effect for time units. Experiment 2 explored the flexibility of the SNARC effect when numbers were attached to time units, which either conflicted with the numerical magnitude or in which the time units were the same or different. Experiment 3 explored whether the SNARC effect of numbers was stable when numbers were near the transition of two adjacent time units. The results indicate that the SNARC effect was flexible when the numbers were suffixed with time units: Time units influenced the direction of the SNARC effect in a way which could not be accounted for by the mathematical differences between the time units and numbers. This suggests that the SNARC effect is not obligatory and can be easily adapted or inhibited based on the current context.

Spatial-temporal Association of Response Codes Effect: Manifestation, Influencing Factors and Its Theories

空间-时间联合编码效应（spatial-temporal association of response codes effect, STEARC）是指时间的心里表征具有空间特性。这种时空关联现象具有多方向性、多通道性和不同文化背景下优势轴的差异性。影响这种现象的因素主要有阅读和书写习惯、语言、空间参考框架和情绪状态等。目前空间-时间联合编码效应的理论解释主要有隐喻构念观、具身理论、命题符号理论和知觉符号理论等。未来的研究需要进一步综合三条空间轴线，深入探讨空间-时间联合编码效应的影响因素及其神经生理机制。

The Role of Linguistics Habits and Proprioception Sense on Mental Number Line

The present study investigated the relationship between linguistic styles and numerical representation as evidenced by the Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes effect, which smaller (larger) number is respond faster with left (right) hand. In Study 1, sixteen participants did numerical judgments by pressing left-or-right side keyboard button with digits presented randomly on three sides of the screen. SNARC effect was found to be significant whereas no significant main effect of number placement was found. In Study 2, fifteen participants reacted with moving the joystick to leftward or rightward with one hand only. No SNARC effect was found as well as the interaction effect. These results suggested the role of proprioception sense in the conceptualization of mental number line.

SNARC Effect of Non-Symbolic Number Information on Different Processing Levels: Eyetracking Evidence

Recently, the development of human numerical ability has attracted more and more attention, and a great deal of advance of number processing-specific phenomena has been reported, one of which is the Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes effect (SNARC effect). Instinctively, number processing is a numerical symbolic operation without additional information. But, in fact, a close relationship between number and space has been found, which demonstrates a dependency of number processing on the spatial character of objects. Some researchers explained that numbers are represented along a horizontally "mental number line", on which small numbers are on the left of the line, and large numbers are on the right. However, since the SNARC effect was also found on the vertical direction, someone proposed that the spatial representation of numbers is a number map rather than a number line. Furthermore, the SNARC effect was likewise discovered when doing the shallow processing of number (Fischer, 2001; Shen et al., 2006). Besides, previous studies (e.g., Wood Willmes, 2005) have found the SNARC effect in many other numerical symbols, such as auditory number words, visual Arabic numeral, and visual number words. However, the SNARC effect of non-symbolic number which is one of the numerical formats has not been studied so far. Although researchers have paid attention to the relationship between the eye movement and cognition in recent 20 years, we still need more eye movement researches in number processing. The present study explored the influence of processing levels on the SNARC effect of dot matrixes by the technique of eye movement. The present study includes two within-subjects design experiments, to study the SNARC effect on the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively. Experiment 1 investigated the SNARC effect of non-symbolic number, in which participants were asked to response to the detective stimuli (on the left or right) following the irrelevant stimuli (dot matrix) with two different processing levels (deep processing condition and shallow processing condition). The eye movement response time was recorded respectively for deep processing (the comparison task) and shallow processing (the dice scanning task) to examine whether the SNARC effect appeared or not. The results showed that SNARC effects appeared in both conditions of horizontal dimension, further analysis indicated that the strength of SNARC effects from both processing levels was similar. In Experiment 2, the detective stimuli were represented in vertical dimension, and the tasks were the same to those in experiment 1. We recorded eye movement time for both upward and downward responses. The result showed us that there was no SNARC effect in both conditions. In conclusion, the present study suggests that the SNARC effect of dot matrix was weaker than that of Arabic number, and the processing level almost had no impact on the SNARC of dot number dueling to the interaction of the characteristic of the dice and the direction, while the role of dimension was crucial.

Priming the mental time line.

Growing experimental evidence suggests that temporal events are represented on a mental time line, spatially oriented from left to right. Support for the spatial representation of time comes mostly from studies that have used spatially organized responses. Moreover, many of these studies did not avoid possible confounds attributable to target stimuli that simultaneously convey both spatial and temporal dimensions. Here we show that task-irrelevant, lateralized visuospatial primes affect auditory duration judgments. Responses to short durations were faster when the auditory target was paired with left- than with right-sided primes, whereas responses to long durations were faster when paired with right- than with left-sided primes. Thus, when the representations of physical space and time are concurrently activated, physical space may influence time even when a lateralized, spatially encoded response is not required by the task. The time-space interaction reported here cannot be ascribed to any Spatial-Temporal Association of Response Codes effect. It supports the hypothesis that the representation of time is spatially organized, with short durations represented on the left space and longer ones on the right.

Subitizing, Magnitude Representation, and Magnitude Retrieval in Deaf and Hearing Adults

This study examines basic number processing (subitizing, automaticity, and magnitude representation) as the possible underpinning of mathematical difficulties often evidenced in deaf adults. Hearing and deaf participants completed tasks to assess the automaticity with which magnitude information was activated and retrieved from long-term memory (using a Stroop-like paradigm to assess congruity effects), the representational format of magnitude information (by analysis of distance and Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes effects), and the ability to rapidly enumerate small sets (subitizing). Both groups showed distance effects taken to indicate the use of a visual-spatial analog number line representing approximate quantity. Furthermore, both groups showed similar patterns of performance on the subitizing tasks and showed similar amounts of interference in an analysis of congruity effects. This is taken as evidence against the notion that idiosyncratic differences in basic number processing account for mathematical difficulties experienced by deaf individuals.

Linkages between Number Concepts, Spatial Thinking, and Directionality of Writing: The SNARC Effect and the REVERSE SNARC Effect in English and Arabic Monoliterates, Biliterates, and Illiterate Arabic Speakers

AbstractThe current investigations coordinate math cognition and cultural approaches to numeric thinking to examine the linkages between numeric and spatial processes, and how these linkages are modified by the cultural artifact of writing. Previous research in the adult numeric cognition literature has shown that English monoliterates have a spatialised mental number line which is oriented from left-to-right with smaller magnitudes associated with the left side of space and larger magnitudes are associated with the right side of space. These associations between number and space have been termed the Spatial Numeric Association Response Code Effect (SNARC effect, Dehaene, 1992). The current study investigates the spatial orientation of the mental number line in the following groups: English monoliterates, Arabic monoliterates who use only the right-left writing system, Arabic-English biliterates, and illiterate Arabic speakers who only read numerals. Current results indicate, for the first time, a Reverse SNARC effect for Arabic monoliterates, such that the mental number line had a right-to-left directionality. Furthermore, a weakened Reverse SNARC was observed for Arabic-English biliterates, and no effect was observed among Illiterate Arabic speakers. These findings are especially notable since left-right biases are neurologically supported and are observed in pre-literate children regardless of which writing system is used by adults. The broader implications of how cultural artifacts affect basic numeric cognition will be discussed.