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Number line estimation and complex mental calculation: Is there a shared cognitive process driving the two tasks?

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Abstract

It is widely accepted that different number-related tasks, including solving simple addition and subtraction, may induce attentional shifts on the so-called mental number line, which represents larger numbers on the right and smaller numbers on the left. Recently, it has been shown that different number-related tasks also employ spatial attention shifts along with general cognitive processes. Here we investigated for the first time whether number line estimation and complex mental arithmetic recruit a common mechanism in healthy adults. Participants’ performance in two-digit mental additions and subtractions using visual stimuli was compared with their performance in a mental bisection task using auditory numerical intervals. Results showed significant correlations between participants’ performance in number line bisection and that in two-digit mental arithmetic operations, especially in additions, providing a first proof of a shared cognitive mechanism (or multiple shared cognitive mechanisms) between auditory number bisection and complex mental calculation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the University of Padua (CPDA131328 and NEURAT STPD11B8HM_004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AP, UK

    Maria Montefinese

  2. Department of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 5, 35128, Padua, Italy

    Maria Montefinese & Carlo Semenza

  3. IRCCS San Camillo Hospital Foundation, Via Alberoni 70, 30126, Venice, Italy

    Maria Montefinese & Carlo Semenza

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  1. Maria Montefinese
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  2. Carlo Semenza
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Correspondence to Maria Montefinese.

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Handling editor: Luigia Carlucci Aiello (Sapienza University of Rome);

Reviewers: Pom Charras (University Paul Valery Montpellier) and an anonymous reviewer.

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Montefinese, M., Semenza, C. Number line estimation and complex mental calculation: Is there a shared cognitive process driving the two tasks?. Cogn Process 19, 495–504 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-018-0867-4

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