Give or Take: Semantic Priming from Sentences to Two-Digit Operations

The objective of this study was to assess the potential existence of shared semantics between linguistic (e.g., reading a sentence) and numerical information (e.g., performing an arithmetic operation).

To evaluate this proposal, we devised a paradigm with blocks of two trials. In the first trial, participants were presented with sentences containing verbs that conveyed either an increase (e.g., "to give") or a decrease (e.g., "to take away"). In the subsequent trial, participants were required to perform additions (e.g., 61 + 1) and subtractions (e.g., 52 - 4). We hypothesized that addition and subtraction would exhibit shared semantic processing with sentences denoting increase and decrease, respectively, resulting in cross-domain effects.

Participants exhibited enhanced speed and accuracy in addition problem-solving when preceded by increase sentences, whereas subtractions were solved with higher accuracy when preceded by decrease sentences. Moreover, these effects were found to be subject to modulation by the complexity of the numerical operation.

The findings of this study support the hypothesis that there is a shared semantic processing between language and mathematics.