title: Verbal-spatial and visuospatial coding of number-space interactions.
abstract: A tight correspondence has been postulated between the representations of number and space. The spatial numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect, which reflects the observation that people respond faster with the left-hand side to small numbers and with the right-hand side to large numbers, is regarded as strong evidence for this correspondence. The dominant explanation of the SNARC effect is that it results from visuospatial coding of magnitude (e.g., the mental number line hypothesis). In a series of experiments, we demonstrated that this is only part of the story and that verbal-spatial coding influences processes and representations that have been believed to be purely visuospatial. Additionally, when both accounts were directly contrasted, verbal-spatial coding was observed in absence of visuospatial coding. Relations to other number-space interactions and implications for other tasks are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Unite de Recherche en Neurosciences Cognitives, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. Wim.Gevers@ulb.ac.be
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gevers
authors.forename: Seppe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Santens
authors.forename: Elisah
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dhooge
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Van den Bossche
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fias
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Verguts
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult