Numerical representations are neither abstract nor automatic
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Updated: Jun 20, 2026

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Published on: March 18, 2019
1Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina-Wilmington, Wilmington, NC 28403, USA. cohend@uncw.edu
Abstract:
In this commentary, I support and augment Cohen Kadosh & Walsh's (CK&W's) argument that numerical representations are not abstract. I briefly review data that support the non-abstract nature of the representation of numbers between zero and one, and I discuss how a failure to test alternative hypotheses has led researchers to erroneously conclude that numerals automatically activate their semantic meaning.
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