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Two-digit number comparison: Decade-unit and unit-decade produce the same compatibility effect with number words
1Department of Experimental Psychology and Behavioral Physiology, University of Granada, Spain. pmacizo@ugr.es <pmacizo@ugr.es>
Summary
Spanish speakers exhibit a language-dependent process for reading two-digit numbers, influencing how they compare numerical values. This cognitive process remains consistent regardless of number format, impacting reaction times in magnitude comparison tasks.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psycholinguistics
- Numerical Cognition
Background:
- The unit-decade compatibility effect is a well-documented phenomenon in numerical cognition, influencing response times in number comparison tasks.
- Spanish number words follow a decade-unit structure (e.g., 'cincuenta y tres' for 53), potentially influencing the processing of two-digit numbers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the unit-decade compatibility effect in Spanish two-digit number word processing.
- To determine if the observed compatibility effect in Spanish is language-dependent and influenced by the inherent order of number components.
Main Methods:
- Participants performed magnitude comparison tasks with Spanish two-digit number words.
- Experimental trials manipulated the compatibility between decade and unit components, and the presentation order (decade-unit vs. unit-decade).
Main Results:
- Participants were slower in compatible trials compared to incompatible trials, indicating a specific processing pattern.
- The reverse compatibility effect persisted even when number words were presented in a unit-decade order, suggesting a language-based processing strategy.
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest a language-dependent cognitive strategy for processing written numbers in Spanish.
- This learned process for analyzing numerical information is applied consistently, irrespective of the explicit order of units and decades in the task.
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