Mental simulation and its influence on finger-based numerical representations
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 11, 2025
Using Virtual Reality to Transfer Motor Skill Knowledge from One Hand to Another
Published on: September 18, 2017
Isabella Luise Kreilinger1, Korbinian Moeller2, Silvia Pixner1
1Developmental Psychology, Department of Psychology and Medical Sciences, UMIT Private University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, 6060 Hall in Tyrol, Austria.
Background:
There is evidence indicating beneficial effects of mental simulation on athletic and musical performance. We evaluated whether such beneficial effects of mental simulation generalize to the cognitive domain in terms of embodied (finger-based) numerical representations.
Methods:
We assessed 70 preschoolers (36 girls, mean age 5;9) on tasks assessing different basic numerical skills (e.g., counting, cardinality understanding, number composition, etc.) as well as different aspects of finger-based numerical representations. A subgroub completed a mental simulation phase prior to testing finger-based representations.
Results:
Children who completed the mental simulation phase, performed better on the tasks assessing finger-based representations compared to, children who did not complete the simulation phase. This held even when controlling for performance in basic numerical skills.
Conclusion:
This study provides evidence that beneficial effects of mental simulation generalize to embodied (finger-based) numerical representations. Mental simulation may be useful to integrate in the instruction of basic numerical skills.
Related Concept Videos
01:33Somatosensation
01:24Numerical Calculations
The solution to a problem is obtained using different methods. While manually solving algebraic symbols is one of the most common methods, the graphical method is often preferred. Computers...