Squeezing, striking, and vocalizing: Is number representation fundamentally spatial?

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Number representation is often linked to spatial cognition.
• Existing research frequently uses number-line tasks to study numerical estimation.
• The fundamental cognitive basis of number representation remains debated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether number representation is fundamentally spatial.
• To disentangle number representation from traditional number-line reporting methods.
• To explore nonspatial methods for assessing numerical estimation.

Main Methods:

• Compared numerical estimations using line-reporting versus three nonspatial methods (squeezing, bell-striking, vocalizing).
• Analyzed mappings between numerical stimuli and reporting methods in educated participants.
• Examined the influence of culturally mediated elements on number representation.

Main Results:

• Nonspatial reporting methods replicated findings from traditional number-line tasks.
• Nonspatial reporting consistently yielded logarithmic mappings for nonsymbolic stimuli, aligning with the Weber-Fechner law.
• Linear mappings were observed exclusively in conditions involving culturally mediated elements, such as words.

Conclusions:

• Number representation is not fundamentally spatial but relies on a deeper magnitude sense.
• This magnitude sense can manifest both spatially and nonspatially.
• Number-to-space mappings are likely culturally enhanced rather than directly rooted in brain evolution.