Spatial attention in mental arithmetic: A literature review and meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Spatial Cognition

Background:

• The relationship between numerical cognition and spatial representation is a key area of research.
• Previous studies suggest potential links, but a comprehensive synthesis and quantification of effects are needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and quantify the effect sizes of associations between arithmetic and space.
• To investigate specific effects like the operational momentum effect and arithmetic cueing.
• To introduce a new framework, Adaptive Pathways in Mental Arithmetic (APiMA), to explain observed patterns.

Main Methods:

• Meta-analysis of existing studies on arithmetic and space.
• Examination of operational momentum effect (OME) across different response paradigms.
• Analysis of arithmetic cueing effects in target detection and temporal order judgment tasks.
• Review of eye- and hand-tracking studies linking arithmetic to motor movements.

Main Results:

• A large effect size for OME was found when numerical response alternatives were provided, driven by subtraction underestimation.
• No consistent OME was observed when estimates were transcoded to a spatial frame.
• Arithmetic cueing studies showed a small to medium effect size, with a rightward bias for addition.
• Eye- and hand-tracking studies confirmed associations between arithmetic and physical movements.

Conclusions:

• Evidence strongly supports a conceptual association between arithmetic and spatial processing.
• The APiMA framework explains divergent findings based on symbolic versus non-symbolic stimuli.
• The study highlights the interconnectedness of numerical and spatial cognitive systems.