title: On the limits of language influences on numerical cognition - no inversion effects in three-digit number magnitude processing in adults.
abstract: The inversion of number words influences numerical cognition even in seemingly non-verbal tasks, such as Arabic number comparison. However, it is an open question whether inversion of decades and units also influences number processing beyond the two-digit number range. The current study addresses this question by investigating compatibility effects in both German- (a language with inverted) and English-speaking (a language with non-inverted number words) university students (mean age 22 years) in a three-digit number comparison task. We observed reliable hundred-decade as well as hundred-unit compatibility effects for three-digit number comparison. This indicates that, comparable two-digit numbers, three-digit numbers are processed in a parallel decomposed fashion. However, in contrast to previous results on two-digit numbers as well as on children's processing of three-digit numbers, no reliable modulation of these compatibility effects through language was observed in adults. The present data indicate that inversion-related differences in multi-digit number processing are limited. They seem to be restricted to the number range involving those digits being inverted (i.e., tens and units in two-digit numbers) but do not generalize to neighboring digits. Possible reasons for this lack of generalization are discussed.
authors: Knowledge Media Research Center Tuebingen, Germany ; Department of Psychology, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Germany.
authors: Julia
authors: J
authors: Bahnmueller
authors: Knowledge Media Research Center Tuebingen, Germany ; Department of Psychology, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Germany ; LEAD Graduate School, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Germany.
authors: Korbinian
authors: K
authors: Moeller
authors: Department of Psychology, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Germany.
authors: Anne
authors: A
authors: Mann
authors: Knowledge Media Research Center Tuebingen, Germany ; Department of Psychology, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Germany ; LEAD Graduate School, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Germany.
authors: Hans-Christoph
authors: HC
authors: Nuerk
keywords: compatibility effects; developmental changes; language-moderated effects; multi-digit number comparison; three-digit numbers