title: Processing of Numerical and Proportional Quantifiers.
abstract: Quantifier expressions like "many" and "at least" are part of a rich repository of words in language representing magnitude information. The role of numerical processing in comprehending quantifiers was studied in a semantic truth value judgment task, asking adults to quickly verify sentences about visual displays using numerical (at least seven, at least thirteen, at most seven, at most thirteen) or proportional (many, few) quantifiers. The visual displays were composed of systematically varied proportions of yellow and blue circles. The results demonstrated that numerical estimation and numerical reference information are fundamental in encoding the meaning of quantifiers in terms of response times and acceptability judgments. However, a difference emerges in the comparison strategies when a fixed external reference numerosity (seven or thirteen) is used for numerical quantifiers, whereas an internal numerical criterion is invoked for proportional quantifiers. Moreover, for both quantifier types, quantifier semantics and its polarity (positive vs. negative) biased the response direction (accept/reject). Overall, our results indicate that quantifier comprehension involves core numerical and lexical semantic properties, demonstrating integrated processing of language and numbers.
authors: Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Aachen.
authors: Sailee
authors: S
authors: Shikhare
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital, Aachen.|JARA, Translational Brain Medicine.|Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Germany.
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Heim
authors: Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Aachen.|Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research, University Hospital, Aachen.|Knowledge Media Research Center, IWM-KMRC, Tübingen, Germany.
authors: Elise
authors: E
authors: Klein
authors: Knowledge Media Research Center, IWM-KMRC, Tübingen, Germany.|Department of Psychology, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen.
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Huber
authors: Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Aachen.|Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research, University Hospital, Aachen.
authors: Klaus
authors: K
authors: Willmes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D032882:Comprehension; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time; D012660:Semantics; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Numerical and proportional quantifiers; Numerical comparison; Numerical estimation; Semantic polarity