The number-weight illusion

When objects are manually lifted to compare their weight, then smaller objects are judged to be heavier than larger objects of the same physical weights: the classical size-weight illusion (Gregory, 2004). It is also well established that increasing numerical magnitude is strongly associated with increasing physical size: the number-size congruency effect e.g., (Besner & Coltheart Neuropsychologia, 17, 467-472 1979); Henik & Tzelgov Memory & Cognition, 10, 389-395 1982). The present study investigates the question suggested by combining these two classical effects: if smaller numbers are associated with smaller size, and objects of smaller size appear heavier, then are numbered objects (balls) of equal weight and size also judged as heavier when they carry smaller numbers? We present two experiments testing this hypothesis for weight comparisons of numbered (1 to 9) balls of equal size and weight, and report results which largely conform to an interpretation in terms of a new "number-weight illusion".