title: Dancing with the SNARC: Measuring spatial-numerical associations on a digital dance mat.
abstract: According to the concept of embodied numerosity, bodily experiences influence the way in which we process numerical magnitude. The development of this influence could be anchored in the spatial ordering of numbers along a mental number line representation, which is measured by effects of spatial-numerical associations. The aim of this study was to investigate whether horizontally oriented full-body movement and visual presentation of a number line both contribute to spatial-numerical associations in children. We presented fourth-graders with 2 magnitude comparison tasks that differed in the relevance of magnitude information. In both tasks, we varied the amount of bodily movement in different response conditions (responding verbally, with a foot tap, or by jumping) and the visual presentation (items were presented with or without a number line). From the data, we calculated 2 spatial-numerical effects and expected to find the strongest effects if a full-body response was combined with a number line presentation. The 2 effects were differentially influenced by response modalities, but not presentation. The SNARC (= Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes) effect was present in all conditions and was not influenced by our manipulations. In contrast, a new relative numerical congruity effect was influenced by the variations in responses in accordance with our hypotheses. The relative numerical congruity effect results suggest that responses involving bodily movement increase activation of spatial-numerical associations compared to verbal responses. These results are the first to demonstrate such an influence in a full-body approach in elementary schoolchildren. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien.
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6907-6255
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien.
authors.forename: Korbinian
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Moeller
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Tuebingen.
authors.forename: Friderike
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Class
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien.
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Cress
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien.
authors.forename: Hans-Christoph
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Nuerk
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D003615:Dancing / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D009068:Movement; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*