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Automaticity of Conceptual Magnitude.
Yarden Gliksman1, Shai Itamar1, Tali Leibovich2
1Department of Psychology and the Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Scientific Reports
|February 17, 2016
Summary
Conceptual magnitude, like knowing an elephant is bigger than a mouse, is processed automatically. This study found that both conceptual and physical magnitude processing are equally automatic, suggesting a shared cognitive system.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Perception
Background:
- Conceptual magnitude, such as knowing an elephant is larger than a mouse, is understood without direct comparison.
- Previous research suggests conceptual magnitude processing occurs automatically, influencing tasks even when irrelevant.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the automaticity of conceptual magnitude processing.
- To compare the automatic processing of conceptual magnitude with physical magnitude.
Main Methods:
- Participants judged object size either physically (on-screen) or conceptually (real-world) in separate blocks.
- Congruent (conceptually larger object is physically larger) and incongruent (conceptually larger object is physically smaller) stimuli were used.
- Quartile analysis examined the effect of processing time on congruity effects.
Main Results:
- A significant congruity effect was observed for both conceptual and physical magnitude judgments.
- Processing time affected the congruity effect similarly for both types of magnitude.
- This indicates that conceptual and physical magnitude processing are automatic to a similar degree.
Conclusions:
- The automatic processing of conceptual and physical magnitudes occurs to the same extent.
- Findings support theories proposing that different magnitude processing systems share a common underlying cognitive architecture.
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