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A Two-interval Forced-choice Task for Multisensory Comparisons
Published on: November 9, 2018
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Stimulus frequency alone can account for the size effect in number comparison
Attila Krajcsi1, Petia Kojouharova2
1Cognitive Psychology Department, Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
Acta Psychologica
|December 26, 2022
Summary
Number comparison size effects are driven by symbol frequency, not inherent psychophysics. Even with new symbols, frequent numbers are processed faster, demonstrating frequency
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Numerical Cognition
- Symbolic Representation
Background:
- The size effect in number comparison tasks, where smaller numbers are easier to compare, is traditionally linked to psychophysical representations.
- Alternative theories propose a frequency effect, suggesting smaller numbers are processed more easily due to their higher frequency of occurrence.
- Prior research indicates digit frequency fundamentally influences the size effect, especially in novel number systems where frequency solely dictates the effect.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if the established size effect in number comparison is influenced by stimulus frequency or an underlying psychophysics-based representation.
- To determine if previously acquired size effects can be shaped by stimulus frequency, even in the absence of active psychophysical representations in new symbols.
Main Methods:
- Participants performed a number comparison task using novel number symbols.
- The frequency of these novel symbols was systematically varied throughout the experimental session.
- Analysis focused on how aggregated stimulus frequency influenced the observed size effect.
Main Results:
- The size effect observed in the study was significantly influenced by the aggregated frequency of stimuli across both halves of the session.
- No evidence of a psychophysics-based size effect was found during the experiment with the novel symbols.
- Results indicate that stimulus frequency alone can create and shape the size effect in number comparison.
Conclusions:
- The size effect in number comparison tasks can be entirely attributed to the frequency with which symbols are encountered.
- A psychophysics-based representation is not a necessary component to explain the size effect phenomena observed in this study.
- Stimulus frequency is a dominant factor in shaping numerical comparison efficiency, even overriding potential inherent symbolic properties.
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