No observable spatial numerical associations of response codes effect with numbers in nonsymbolic format

Studying numerical interferences has become a widely used method for investigating the representations that underlie numerical cognition. Here, we contrast the classic pure approximate number system (ANS) framework and a more recently proposed hybrid approximate number system-discrete semantic system framework with respect to their distinctive predictions for the nonsymbolic and symbolic spatial numerical associations of response codes (SNARC) effect (the most extensively studied interference between numbers and space). We compare the symbolic (Indo-Arabic numerals) to the nonsymbolic (arrays of dots) version of a SNARC paradigm (n = 77). In contrast to previous studies, in the present experiment, (a) the magnitude is irrelevant for solving the task (a color judgment task), and (b) the nonsymbolic stimuli contain arrays of dots outside the subitizing range, ensuring to activate the ANS. We found clear evidence for the SNARC effect in the symbolic color task. However, we found no indication of the SNARC effect in the nonsymbolic color task. This pattern of results supports the hybrid approximate number system-discrete semantic system framework, assuming that the SNARC interference is a symbolic effect while refuting the pure ANS view of the SNARC effect, which necessitates the presence of the SNARC interference using a nonsymbolic format, too. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).