Up or down? Reading direction influences vertical counting direction in the horizontal plane - a cross-cultural comparison

Most adults and children in cultures where reading text progresses from left to right also count objects from the left to the right side of space. The reverse is found in cultures with a right-to-left reading direction. The current set of experiments investigated whether vertical counting in the horizontal plane is also influenced by reading direction. Participants were either from a left-to-right reading culture (UK) or from a mixed (left-to-right and top-to-bottom) reading culture (Hong Kong). In Experiment 1, native English-speaking children and adults and native Cantonese-speaking children and adults performed three object counting tasks. Objects were presented flat on a table in a horizontal, vertical, and square display. Independent of culture, the horizontal array was mostly counted from left to right. While the majority of English-speaking children counted the vertical display from bottom to top, the majority of the Cantonese-speaking children as well as both Cantonese- and English-speaking adults counted the vertical display from top to bottom. This pattern was replicated in the counting pattern for squares: all groups except the English-speaking children started counting with the top left coin. In Experiment 2, Cantonese-speaking adults counted a square array of objects after they read a text presented to them either in left-to-right or in top-to-bottom reading direction. Most Cantonese-speaking adults started counting the array by moving horizontally from left to right. However, significantly more Cantonese-speaking adults started counting with a top-to-bottom movement after reading the text presented in a top-to-bottom reading direction than in a left-to-right reading direction. Our results show clearly that vertical counting in the horizontal plane is influenced by longstanding as well as more recent experience of reading direction

Neuronale Korrelate kognitiver Zahlenrepräsentationen während Vergleichs- und einfacher Additionsaufgaben

Seit geraumer Zeit werden in der Kognitionpsychologie verschiedene Arten der Zahlenrepräsentation diskutiert. Es ist klar, daß viele Kinder und Erwachsene insbesondere bei der Lösung von Rechenoperationen wie z.B. der Multiplikation häufig sprachliche Repräsentationen benutzen. Daß es auch sprachunabhängige Zahlen- oder zumindest Mengenrepräsentationen geben muß, haben neuere Forschungen über das Mengenverständnis eines Naturvolks Brasiliens gezeigt, in dessen Sprache keine exakten Zahlenwörter für Mengen größer 5 existieren [1]. Verschiedene mögliche sprachunabhängige Repräsentationsarten werden zur Zeit diskutiert

Automatic number priming effects in adults with and without mathematical learning disabilities

This study examined automatic number processing in adults with mathematical learning disabilities (MLDs). The performance of adults with MLD during an automatic symbolic and non-symbolic priming task was compared to gender-, age-, and IQ-matched controls. No difference in the priming distance effect was found between the adults with and without MLD, suggesting that adults with MLD have an intact magnitude representation. Moreover, the adults with MLD did not have problems in processing the numerical symbols 1-9, suggesting that this basic deficit which is experienced by children with MLD is resolved by adulthood

Longitudinal predictors of reading and arithmetic at different attainment levels

Reading and arithmetic are distinct academic skills that share similarities in skill acquisition and use. Previous research investigated the cognitive basis of associations and dissociations between reading and arithmetic by using either subtyping or dimensional approaches. In the current study, we aim to bridge the gap between these two approaches by investigating common and distinct predictors of reading and arithmetic at different performance levels with quantile regression models. This allowed us to look more closely at the lower tail of the ability distributions, and to test whether predictions for children with low reading and arithmetic fluency differed from the typical performance range. We analyzed longitudinal data of 357 children speaking English or German. Outcome variables were reading and arithmetic fluency assessed at the end of Grade 1, 2, and 3. Predictors were assessed in Grade 1. Results confirmed nonverbal IQ and working memory as domain-general predictors of reading and arithmetic. The association of reading and arithmetic was mainly explained by nonverbal IQ, phonological awareness, RAN and multi-digit transcoding. Across grades and performance levels, phonological awareness and RAN made a specific contribution to reading. Magnitude processing and multi-digit transcoding were specific predictors of arithmetic. Counting also made a specific prediction to arithmetic in Grade 3, but only in the low performance range. Our findings indicate partly distinct underlying cognitive mechanisms for reading and arithmetic. Shared predictors are involved in retrieval efficiency, language processing and cross-format integration. These results have important implications, as they suggest that most predictors are equally relevant for children with low, typical or even excellent reading and arithmetic fluency

Direct evidence for linguistic influences in two-digit number processing

Language-specific differences in number words influence number processing even in non-verbal numerical tasks. For instance, the unit-decade compatibility effect in two-digit number magnitude comparison (compatible number pairs [42_57: 42]) was shown to be influenced by the inversion of number words (e.g., in German the number word for 42 is zweiundvierzig [literally: two-and-forty]). In two studies, we used articulatory suppression to investigate whether previously observed cross-linguistic differences in two-digit number processing are indeed driven by differences in number word formation. In a two-digit number comparison task, German- and English-speaking participants had to identify the larger of two numbers presented in Arabic digits. In Study 1, participants performed the same task twice, with and without articulatory suppression. In Study 2, the percentage of within-decade filler items (36_39) was manipulated additionally. As expected, in both studies between-group differences in the compatibility effect disappeared under articulatory suppression irrespective of the percentage of fillers included. Furthermore, paralleling results of previous studies including 33% or less filler items, we found that the compatibility effect was larger in German compared to English speakers in the 20% filler condition. However, this pattern was reversed in the 50% filler condition in both studies. Thus, results provide first direct evidence for influences of verbal number word formation on symbolic number processing. Moreover, these new findings suggest that linguistic influences and those of cognitive control processes associated with characteristics of the stimulus set interact in symbolic number processing

The neural correlates of semantic richness : Evidence from an fMRI study of word learning

We investigated the neural correlates of concrete nouns with either many or few semantic features. A group of 21 participants underwent two days of training and were then asked to categorize 40 newly learned words and a set of matched familiar words as living or nonliving in an MRI scanner. Our results showed that the most reliable effects of semantic richness were located in the left angular gyrus (AG) and middle temporal gyrus (MTG), where activation was higher for semantically rich than poor words. Other areas showing the same pattern included bilateral precuneus and posterior cingulate gyrus. Our findings support the view that AG and anterior MTG, as part of the multimodal network, play a significant role in representing and integrating semantic features from different input modalities. We propose that activation in bilateral precuneus and posterior cingulate gyrus reflects interplay between AG and episodic memory systems during semantic retrieval

Arabic digits and spoken number words: Timing modulates the cross-modal numerical distance effect

Moving seamlessly between spoken number words and Arabic digits is common in everyday life. In this study, we systematically investigated the correspondence between auditory number words and visual Arabic digits in adults. Auditory number words and visual Arabic digits were presented concurrently or sequentially and participants had to indicate whether they described the same quantity. We manipulated the stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) between the two stimuli (Experiment 1: −500 ms to +500 ms; Experiment 2: −200 ms to +200 ms). In both experiments, we found a significant cross-modal distance effect. This effect was strongest for simultaneous stimulus presentation and decreased with increasing SOAs. Numerical distance emerged as the most consistent significant predictor overall, in particular for simultaneous presentation. However, physical similarity between the stimuli was often a significant predictor of response times in addition to numerical distance, and at longer SOAs, physical similarity between the stimuli was the only significant predictor. This shows that SOA modulates the extent to which participants access quantity representations. Our results thus support the idea that a semantic quantity representation of auditory and visual numerical symbols is activated when participants perform a concurrent matching task, while at longer SOAs participants are more likely to rely on physical similarity between the stimuli. We also investigated whether individual differences in the efficiency of the cross-modal processing were related to differences in mathematical performance. Our results are inconclusive about whether the efficiency of cross-format numerical correspondence is related to mathematical competence in adults

Developmental dyscalculia in adults: Current issues and open questions for future research.

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a chronic condition that poses not only a barrier to employment and socio-emotional wellbeing but that also persists into adulthood. Thus, understanding the neuro-cognitive foundations of DD is relevant for both children and adults with DD. However, so far the vast majority of scientific research endeavours has been dedicated to the study of DD in children only. Consequently, our current understanding of DD in adulthood is rather patchy. The main aim of the present review is to summarize the scientific findings on DD in adults by focusing on its cognitive manifestations and neural substrates in adults. For instance, research on DD in adulthood suggests that – beyond an outstanding deficiency in number processing – the processing of non-numerical magnitudes and domain-general skills seem to be also impaired in adults suffering from persistent DD. A secondary aim of this review is to delineate future lines of research that will provide us with a more elaborate understanding of the neurocognitive underpinnings of DD in adults (thus fostering the development of sensitive diagnostic marker tasks), and to formulate potential intervention areas targeting deficiencies frequently characterizing DD in adults

How space-number associations may be created in preliterate children : six distinct mechanisms

The directionality of space-number association (SNA) is shaped by cultural experiences. It usually follows the culturally dominant reading direction. Smaller numbers are generally associated with the starting side for reading (left side in Western cultures), while larger numbers are associated with the right endpoint side. However, SNAs consistent with cultural reading directions are present before children can actually read and write. Therefore, these SNAs cannot only be shaped by the direction of children's own reading/writing behavior. We propose six distinct processes - one biological and five cultural/educational - underlying directional SNAs before formal reading acquisition: (i) Brain lateralization, (ii) Monitoring adult reading behavior, (iii) Pretend reading and writing, and rudimentary reading and writing skills, (iv) Dominant attentional directional preferences in a society, not directly related to reading direction, (v) Direct spatial-numerical learning, (vi) Other spatial-directional processes independent of reading direction. In this mini-review, we will differentiate between these processes, elaborate when in development they might emerge, discuss how they may create the SNAs observed in preliterate children and propose how they can be studied in the future