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Updated: Jun 18, 2026
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The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition
Published on: February 19, 2018
How to cook a SNARC: number placement in text rapidly changes spatial-numerical associations
Martin H Fischer1, Richard A Mills, Samuel Shaki
1University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom. m.h.fischer@dundee.ac.uk
Brain and Cognition
|November 18, 2009
Summary
Reading habits influence number-space associations, known as the SNARC effect. This study shows the SNARC effect dynamically changes based on reading direction and spatial number placement, challenging prior beliefs.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Linguistics
Background:
- The Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect describes the association of small numbers with left space and large numbers with right space in Western adults.
- This association is widely attributed to reading habits, specifically left-to-right reading direction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether the SNARC effect is solely determined by reading habits.
- To examine the dynamic nature of number-space associations during the act of reading.
Main Methods:
- Participants read texts in English (left-to-right) and Hebrew (right-to-left) with numbers positioned spatially congruent or incongruent with their reading direction.
- The SNARC effect was measured before and after reading in different conditions.
Main Results:
- In English, the SNARC effect remained stable in the congruent condition but was significantly reduced in the incongruent condition.
- In Hebrew, the incongruent reading condition induced a reverse SNARC effect.
- These findings demonstrate that the SNARC effect is not fixed but is a transient phenomenon influenced by reading context.
Conclusions:
- The SNARC effect is a flexible aspect of numerical cognition, dynamically shaped by immediate spatial-numerical interactions during reading.
- Number-space mappings are not solely dictated by long-standing reading habits but are sensitive to transient environmental cues.
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