Abstract
We investigated the role of horizontal body motion on the processing of numbers. We hypothesized that leftward self-motion leads to shifts in spatial attention and therefore facilitates the processing of small numbers, and vice versa, we expected that rightward self-motion facilitates the processing of large numbers. Participants were displaced by means of a motion platform during a parity judgment task. We found a systematic influence of self-motion direction on number processing, suggesting that the processing of numbers is intertwined with the processing of self-motion perception. The results differed from known spatial numerical compatibility effects in that self-motion exerted a differential influence on inner and outer numbers of the given interval. The results highlight the involvement of sensory body motion information in higher-order spatial cognition.
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Notes
Spatial numerical association of response codes effects are usually indicated by a negative regression slope of dRT as a function of numbers whereby individual regression slopes are tested against zero by means of a simple t test. In the present report, we analyzed linear (and cubic) effects within the framework of repeated measures ANOVA as suggested by (Pinhas et al. 2011).
Note that the outer numbers in this study (“1” and “9”) where not the same as those used in the previous study (“2” and “8”). This suggests that the observed pattern of dRT represents an influence of self-motion direction on the outer numbers of a given interval.
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Pro*Doc grant PDFMP1_127238 and Sinergia grant CRSII1-125135/1).
Conflict of interest
This supplement was not sponsored by outside commercial interests. It was funded entirely by ECONA, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185 Roma, Italy.
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Hartmann, M., Farkas, R. & Mast, F.W. Self-motion perception influences number processing: evidence from a parity task. Cogn Process 13 (Suppl 1), 189–192 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-012-0484-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-012-0484-6