Modulating the spatial-numerical association of response codes effect by inhibitory control

The spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect refers to the processing of the magnitude of numbers activating mental spatial representation, thus affecting the selection of responses in different spatial positions. In this study, we used a spatial-semantic Stroop task (Experiments 1a, 1b), word-color Stroop task (Experiment 2), and Flanker-like task (Experiment 3) to explore whether inhibitory control could modulate the observed SNARC effect. The results of Experiment 1 showed that the SNARC effect was observed in the Stroop-congruent condition but decreased or disappeared in the Stroop-incongruent condition. In Experiment 2, the SNARC effect occurred in the low-interference condition (i.e., word task) but disappeared in the high-interference condition (i.e., color task). Similar results were obtained in Experiment 3, in which participants responded to numbers attached on the central letter "Q" with "O" distractors (low-interference condition) or the central letter "O" with "Q" distractors (high-interference condition). These findings indicate that the enhanced cognitive control triggered by Stroop or Flanker interference aided in resolving the stimulus-response conflict in SNARC-incompatible trials, demonstrating that inhibitory control modulates the SNARC effect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).