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Phonological activation improves semantic access provided by Arabic digits and number words
Haibin Han1, Runping Wang1, Zhanling Cui2
1College of Education, Hebei Normal University, 20 Nanerhuandong Road, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China.
Memory & Cognition
|November 30, 2022
Summary
Phonology, the study of speech sounds, impacts how we understand both number words and Arabic digits. This effect is stronger for Tibetan number words and for individuals with lower language proficiency, highlighting phonology's role in number processing.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Linguistics
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Numbers are represented as Arabic digits or number words.
- Phonology is vital for processing alphabetic words and Chinese characters.
- The role of phonology in processing numerical notations is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if phonology influences semantic access of numerical notations.
- To compare the effect of phonology on Arabic digits versus number words.
- To examine the influence of language proficiency on phonological processing of numbers.
Main Methods:
- A parity judgment task was employed.
- Phonological relationships between primes (Tibetan or Chinese characters) and targets (number words or Arabic digits) were manipulated.
- Two experiments were conducted, targeting number words (Experiment 1) and Arabic digits (Experiment 2).
Main Results:
- Phonology significantly affected semantic access for both number words and Arabic digits.
- Tibetan number words and Arabic digits (with Tibetan primes) showed greater susceptibility to phonological influence.
- Lower language proficiency correlated with increased reliance on phonological encoding during number processing.
Conclusions:
- Phonology plays a critical role in the semantic access of diverse numerical notations.
- The findings suggest a universal phonological component in number representation processing.
- Language proficiency modulates the extent to which phonology impacts number comprehension.
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