The temporary nature of number-space interactions

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Mathematics Education

Background:

• The relationship between numerical cognition and visuospatial skills is well-established.
• Mathematical abilities and education heavily utilize visuospatial strategies.
• A dominant theory posits a mental number line representation in long-term memory.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the nature of the number-space interaction in basic number processing.
• To determine if spatial representations are stored in long-term semantic memory or working memory (WM).
• To propose a new theoretical framework for number-space interactions.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent research on basic number processing tasks.
• Analysis of evidence for spatial representations in long-term versus working memory.
• Examination of the role of serial order in working memory.

Main Results:

• Basic number processing tasks do not rely on long-term spatial memory representations.
• A temporary representation is constructed in serial order working memory.
• Elements are spatially coded based on their ordinal position within the memorized sequence.

Conclusions:

• The number-space link arises from a representation constructed in working memory, not long-term memory.
• This challenges the traditional mental number line theory originating from semantic memory.
• A new framework integrating serial order working memory and number processing is proposed.