title: Nonabstract representation for number - evidence from event-related potentials.
abstract: We investigated whether the mental representation of numbers was abstract amodal or modality-dependent by taking N270 as an index, the amplitude that represents the conflict between internal representation and perceptual input. Participants were instructed to justify whether the magnitude of the second number (S2) was similar to that of the preceding number (S1), whereas the surface formats of numbers between S1 and S2 were manipulated. The result indicated that N270 was elicited even when the two numbers were in the same magnitude but displayed in different surface formats. Therefore, our results supported an encoding-complex model for number representations, that is, there are no abstract amodal representations for numbers; instead, they are represented by surface-format-specific codes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310028, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zaifeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Junying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Mowei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology; D055641:Mathematical Concepts; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis