Two-digit number comparison: Decade-unit and unit-decade produce the same compatibility effect with number words.
This study explored the processing of 2-digit number words by examining the unit-decade compatibility effect in Spanish. Participants were required to choose the larger of 2-digit number words presented in verbal notation. In compatible trials the decade and unit comparisons led to the same response (e.g., 53-68) while in incompatible trials the decade and unit comparisons led to different responses (e.g., 59-74). Participants were slower on compatible trials as compared to incompatible trials. In Experiments 2 and 3, we evaluated whether the reverse compatibility effect in Spanish was only due to a pure left-to-right encoding which favours the decade processing in this language (decade-unit order). When participants processed 2-digit number words presented in reverse form (in the unit-decade order), the same reverse compatibility effect was found. This pattern of results suggests that participants have learnt a language-dependent process for analysing written numbers which is used irrespective of the specific arrangement of units and decades in the comparison task.
Macizo
Pedro
P
Department of Experimental Psychology and Behavioral Physiology, University of Granada, Spain. pmacizo@ugr.es <pmacizo@ugr.es>
Herrera
Amparo
A
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012660:Semantics; D014825:Vocabulary; D055815:Young Adult