Is there an internal association of numbers to hands? The task set influences the nature of the SNARC effect.
The SNARC effect refers to the association of smaller numbers with the left and of larger numbers with the right side of extracorporal space (Dehaene, Bossini, & Giraux, 1993). We tested the assumption that, in addition to these associations, numbers are also related to participants' hands. We report two experiments with vertically arranged buttons in which the nature of the SNARC effect depended on whether the task set was button or hand related: In the first case, a vertical location-related SNARC effect occurred, whereas in the second a hand-related SNARC effect was found. Our third experiment confirmed that space-related number representations dominate the SNARC effect when the buttons are arranged horizontally. We concluded that both effector- and space-related number representations can influence and modify the SNARC effect.
Müller
Dana
D
University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
Schwarz
Wolf
W
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D011930:Reaction Time; D013028:Space Perception; D014794:Visual Fields; D014796:Visual Perception