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Multiple spatial representations of number: evidence for co-existing compressive and linear scales

Lourenco, S.F. and Longo, Matthew R. (2009) Multiple spatial representations of number: evidence for co-existing compressive and linear scales. Experimental Brain Research 193 (1), pp. 151-156. ISSN 0014-4819.

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Abstract

Although the spatial representation of number (mental number line) is well documented, the scaling associated with this representation is less clear. Sometimes people appear to rely on compressive scaling, and sometimes on linear scaling. Here we provide evidence for both compressive and linear representations on the same numerical bisection task, in which adult participants estimate (without calculating) the midpoint between two numbers. The same leftward bias (pseudoneglect) shown on physical line bisection appears on this task, and was previously shown to increase with the magnitude of bisected numbers, consistent with compressive scaling (Longo and Lourenco in Neuropsychologia 45:1400–1407, 2007). In the present study, participants held either small (1–9) or large (101–109) number primes in memory during bisection. When participants remembered small primes, bisection responses were consistent with compressive scaling. However, when they remembered large primes, responses were more consistent with linear scaling. These results show that compressive and linear representations may be accessed flexibly on the same task, depending on the numerical context.

Metadata

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com
School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences
Research Centres and Institutes: Brain and Cognitive Development, Centre for (CBCD)
Depositing User: Matthew Longo
Date Deposited: 04 Jan 2013 14:51
Last Modified: 12 Jun 2025 23:32
URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/5420

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