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Passive Grouping Enhances Proto-Arithmetic Calculation for Leftward Correct Responses. Symmetry (Basel) 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/sym15030719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Baby chicks and other animals including human infants master simple arithmetic. They discriminate 2 vs. 3 (1 + 1 vs. 1 + 1 + 1) but fail with 3 vs. 4 (1 + 1 + 1 vs. 1 + 1 + 1 + 1). Performance is restored when elements are grouped as 2 + 1 vs. 2 + 2. Here, we address whether grouping could lead to asymmetric response bias. We recoded behavioural data from a previous study, in which separate groups of four-day-old domestic chicks underwent an arithmetic task: when the objects were presented one-by-one (1 + 1 + 1 vs. 1 + 1 + 1 + 1), chicks failed in locating the larger group irrespective of its position and did not show any side bias; Experiment 1. When the objects were presented as grouped (2 + 1 vs. 2 + 2), chicks succeeded, performing better when the larger set was on their left; Experiment 2. A similar leftward bias was also observed with harder discriminations (4 vs. 5: 3 + 1 vs. 3 + 2), with baby chicks succeeding in the task only when the larger set was on the left (Experiments 3 and 4). A previous study showed a rightward bias, with tasks enhancing individual processing. Despite a similar effect in boosting proto-arithmetic calculations, individual processing (eliciting a right bias) and grouping (eliciting a left bias) seem to depend on distinct cognitive mechanisms.
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Loconsole M, Regolin L, Rugani R. Asymmetric number-space association leads to more efficient processing of congruent information in domestic chicks. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1115662. [PMID: 36818607 PMCID: PMC9935666 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1115662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2022] [Accepted: 01/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Loconsole
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy,Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom,*Correspondence: Maria Loconsole ✉ ; ✉
| | - Lucia Regolin
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Rosa Rugani
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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3
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Rugani R, Regolin L. Approach direction and accuracy, but not response times, show spatial-numerical association in chicks. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0257764. [PMID: 34591878 PMCID: PMC8483340 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2021] [Accepted: 09/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Chicks trained to identify a target item in a sagittally-oriented series of identical items show a higher accuracy for the target on the left, rather than that on the right, at test when the series was rotated by 90°. Such bias seems to be due to a right hemispheric dominance in visuospatial tasks. Up to now, the bias was highlighted by looking at accuracy, the measure mostly used in non-human studies to detect spatial numerical association, SNA. In the present study, processing by each hemisphere was assessed by scoring three variables: accuracy, response times and direction of approach. Domestic chicks were tested under monocular vision conditions, as in the avian brain input to each eye is mostly processed by the contralateral hemisphere. Four-day-old chicks learnt to peck at the 4th element in a sagittal series of 10 identical elements. At test, when facing a series oriented fronto-parallel, birds confined their responses to the visible hemifield, with high accuracy for the 4th element. The first element in the series was also highly selected, suggesting an anchoring strategy to start the proto-counting at one end of the series. In the left monocular condition, chicks approached the series starting from the left, and in the right monocular condition, they started from the right. Both hemispheres appear to exploit the same strategy, scanning the series from the most lateral element in the clear hemifield. Remarkably, there was no effect in the response times: equal latency was scored for correct or incorrect and for left vs. right responses. Overall, these data indicate that the measures implying a direction of choice, accuracy and direction of approach, and not velocity, i.e., response times, can highlight SNA in this paradigm. We discuss the relevance of the selected measures to unveil SNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa Rugani
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- * E-mail:
| | - Lucia Regolin
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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4
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Response of male and female domestic chicks to change in the number (quantity) of imprinting objects. Learn Behav 2020; 49:54-66. [PMID: 33025570 PMCID: PMC7979580 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-020-00446-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/12/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
When facing two sets of imprinting objects of different numerousness, domestic chicks prefer to approach the larger one. Given that choice for familiar and novel stimuli in imprinting situations is known to be affected by the sex of the animals, we investigated how male and female domestic chicks divide the time spent in the proximity of a familiar versus an unfamiliar number of objects, and how animals interact (by pecking) with these objects. We confirmed that chicks discriminate among the different numerousnesses, but we also showed that females and males behave differently, depending on the degree of familiarity of the objects. When objects in the testing sets were all familiar, females equally explored both sets and pecked at all objects individually. Males instead selectively approached the familiar numerousness and pecked more at it. When both testing sets comprised familiar as well as novel objects, both males and females approached the larger numerousness of familiar objects. However, chicks directed all their pecks toward the novel object within the set. Differences in the behavior of males and females can be accounted for in terms of sex difference in the motivation to reinstate social contact with the familiar objects and to explore novel ones, likely associated with the ecology and the social structure of the species before domestication.
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The effect of monocular occlusion on hippocampal c-Fos expression in domestic chicks (Gallus gallus). Sci Rep 2020; 10:7205. [PMID: 32350337 PMCID: PMC7190859 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-64224-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
In birds, like in mammals, the hippocampus is particularly sensitive to exposure to novel environments, a function that is based on visual input. Chicks' eyes are placed laterally and their optic fibers project mainly to the contralateral brain hemispheres, with only little direct interhemispheric coupling. Thus, monocular occlusion has been frequently used in chicks to document functional specialization of the two hemispheres. However, we do not know whether monocular occlusion influences hippocampal activation. The aim of the present work was to fill this gap by directly testing this hypothesis. To induce hippocampal activation, chicks were exposed to a novel environment with their left or right eye occluded, or in conditions of binocular vision. Their hippocampal expression of c-Fos (neural activity marker) was compared to a baseline group that remained in a familiar environment. Interestingly, while the hippocampal activation in the two monocular groups was not different from the baseline, it was significantly higher in the binocular group exposed to the novel environment. This suggest that the representation of environmental novelty in the hippocampus of domestic chicks involves strong binocular integration.
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6
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Rugani R, Regolin L. Hemispheric specialization in spatial versus ordinal processing in the day-old domestic chick (Gallus gallus). Ann N Y Acad Sci 2020; 1477:34-43. [PMID: 32266985 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2019] [Revised: 03/03/2020] [Accepted: 03/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Different species show an intriguing similarity in representing numerosity in space, starting from left to right. This bias has been attributed to a right hemisphere dominance in processing spatial information. Here, to disentangle the role of each hemisphere in dealing with spatial versus ordinal-numerical information, we tested domestic chicks during monocular versus binocular vision. In the avian brain, the contralateral hemisphere mainly processes the visual input from each eye. Four-day-old chicks learned to peck at the fourth element in a sagittal series of 10 identical elements. At testing, chicks faced a left-to-right-oriented series where the interelement distance was manipulated so that the third element was where the fourth had been at training; this compelled chicks to use either spatial or ordinal cues. Chicks tested binocularly selected both the fourth left and (to a lesser extent) right elements. Chicks tested monocularly chose the third and fourth elements on the seeing side equally. Interhemispheric cooperation resulted in the use of ordinal-numerical information, while each single hemisphere could rely on spatial or ordinal-numerical cue. Both hemispheres can process spatial and ordinal-numerical information, but their interaction results in the supremacy of processing the ordinal-numerical cue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa Rugani
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.,Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Lucia Regolin
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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7
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Di Giorgio E, Lunghi M, Rugani R, Regolin L, Dalla Barba B, Vallortigara G, Simion F. A mental number line in human newborns. Dev Sci 2019; 22:e12801. [DOI: 10.1111/desc.12801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2018] [Revised: 12/19/2018] [Accepted: 01/15/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Di Giorgio
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology University of Padova Padova Italy
| | - Marco Lunghi
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology University of Padova Padova Italy
| | - Rosa Rugani
- Department of General Psychology University of Padova Padova Italy
- Department of Psychology University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia PA
| | - Lucia Regolin
- Department of General Psychology University of Padova Padova Italy
| | | | | | - Francesca Simion
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology University of Padova Padova Italy
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Prpic V. Perceiving Musical Note Values Causes Spatial Shift of Attention in Musicians. Vision (Basel) 2017; 1:vision1020016. [PMID: 31740642 PMCID: PMC6835227 DOI: 10.3390/vision1020016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2017] [Revised: 05/31/2017] [Accepted: 06/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) suggests the existence of an association between number magnitude and response position, with faster left-key responses to small numbers and faster right-key responses to large numbers. The attentional SNARC effect (Att-SNARC) suggests that perceiving numbers can also affect the allocation of spatial attention, causing a leftward (vs. rightward) target detection advantage after perceiving small (vs. large) numbers. Considering previous findings that revealed similar spatial association effects for both numbers and musical note values (i.e., the relative duration of notes), the aim of this study is to investigate whether presenting note values instead of numbers causes a spatial shift of attention in musicians. The results show an advantage in detecting a leftward (vs. rightward) target after perceiving small (vs. large) musical note values. The fact that musical note values cause a spatial shift of attention strongly suggests that musicians process numbers and note values in a similar manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valter Prpic
- Division of Psychology, De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK
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Number-space associations without language: Evidence from preverbal human infants and non-human animal species. Psychon Bull Rev 2017; 24:352-369. [PMID: 27488555 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-016-1126-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
It is well known that humans describe and think of numbers as being represented in a spatial configuration, known as the 'mental number line'. The orientation of this representation appears to depend on the direction of writing and reading habits present in a given culture (e.g., left-to-right oriented in Western cultures), which makes this factor an ideal candidate to account for the origins of the spatial representation of numbers. However, a growing number of studies have demonstrated that non-verbal subjects (preverbal infants and non-human animals) spontaneously associate numbers and space. In this review, we discuss evidence showing that pre-verbal infants and non-human animals associate small numerical magnitudes with short spatial extents and left-sided space, and large numerical magnitudes with long spatial extents and right-sided space. Together this evidence supports the idea that a more biologically oriented view can account for the origins of the 'mental number line'. In this paper, we discuss this alternative view and elaborate on how culture can shape a core, fundamental, number-space association.
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10
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Patro K, Nuerk HC. Limitations of Trans-Species Inferences: The Case of Spatial-Numerical Associations in Chicks and Humans. Cogn Sci 2016; 41:2267-2274. [PMID: 27859532 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2015] [Revised: 06/22/2016] [Accepted: 06/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Patro
- Knowledge Media Research Center/Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien
| | - Hans-Christoph Nuerk
- Knowledge Media Research Center/Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien
- Department of Psychology; University of Tübingen
- LEAD Graduate School; University of Tübingen
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11
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Abstract
Humans show a remarkable tendency to describe and think of numbers as being placed on a mental number line (MNL), with smaller numbers located on the left and larger ones on the right. Faster responses to small numbers are indeed performed on the left side of space, while responses to large numbers are facilitated on the right side of space (spatial-numerical association of response codes, SNARC effect). This phenomenon is considered the experimental demonstration of the MNL and has been extensively replicated throughout a variety of paradigms. Nevertheless, the majority of previous literature has mainly investigated this effect by means of response times and accuracy, whereas studies considering more subtle and automatic measures such as kinematic parameters are rare (e.g., in a reaching-to-grasp movement, the grip aperture is enlarged in responding to larger numbers than in responding to small numbers). In this brief review we suggest that numerical magnitude can also affect the what and how of action execution (i.e., temporal and spatial components of movement). This evidence could have large implications in the strongly debated issue concerning the effect of experience and culture on the orientation of MNL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa Rugani
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova Padova, Italy
| | - Luisa Sartori
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova Padova, Italy
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12
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Rugani R, Vallortigara G, Regolin L. Mapping number to space in the two hemispheres of the avian brain. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2016; 133:13-18. [PMID: 27246250 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2016.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2015] [Revised: 05/18/2016] [Accepted: 05/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Pre-verbal infants and non-human animals associate small numbers with the left space and large numbers with the right space. Birds and primates, trained to identify a given position in a sagittal series of identical positions, whenever required to respond on a left/right oriented series, referred the given position starting from the left end. Here, we extended this evidence by selectively investigating the role of either cerebral hemisphere, using the temporary monocular occlusion technique. In birds, lacking the corpus callosum, visual input is fed mainly to the contralateral hemisphere. We trained 4-day-old chicks to identify the 4th element in a sagittal series of 10 identical elements. At test, the series was identical but left/right oriented. Test was conducted in right monocular, left monocular or binocular condition of vision. Right monocular chicks pecked at the 4th right element; left monocular and binocular chicks pecked at the 4th left element. Data on monocular chicks demonstrate that both hemispheres deal with an ordinal (sequential) task. Data on binocular chicks indicate that the left bias is linked to a right hemisphere dominance, that allocates the attention toward the left hemispace. This constitutes a first step towards understanding the neural basis of number space mapping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa Rugani
- Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy; Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
| | | | - Lucia Regolin
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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13
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Rugani R, Vallortigara G, Priftis K, Regolin L. Piece of Evidence. Commentary: Ancestral Mental Number Lines: What Is the Evidence? Front Psychol 2016; 7:553. [PMID: 27148154 PMCID: PMC4840618 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2016] [Accepted: 04/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Rosa Rugani
- Department of General Psychology, University of PadovaPadova, Italy; Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of TrentoRovereto, Italy
| | | | | | - Lucia Regolin
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova Padova, Italy
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Göbel SM. Up or down? Reading direction influences vertical counting direction in the horizontal plane - a cross-cultural comparison. Front Psychol 2015; 6:228. [PMID: 25852583 PMCID: PMC4366652 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2014] [Accepted: 02/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Most adults and children in cultures where reading text progresses from left to right also count objects from the left to the right side of space. The reverse is found in cultures with a right-to-left reading direction. The current set of experiments investigated whether vertical counting in the horizontal plane is also influenced by reading direction. Participants were either from a left-to-right reading culture (UK) or from a mixed (left-to-right and top-to-bottom) reading culture (Hong Kong). In Experiment 1, native English-speaking children and adults and native Cantonese-speaking children and adults performed three object counting tasks. Objects were presented flat on a table in a horizontal, vertical, and square display. Independent of culture, the horizontal array was mostly counted from left to right. While the majority of English-speaking children counted the vertical display from bottom to top, the majority of the Cantonese-speaking children as well as both Cantonese- and English-speaking adults counted the vertical display from top to bottom. This pattern was replicated in the counting pattern for squares: all groups except the English-speaking children started counting with the top left coin. In Experiment 2, Cantonese-speaking adults counted a square array of objects after they read a text presented to them either in left-to-right or in top-to-bottom reading direction. Most Cantonese-speaking adults started counting the array by moving horizontally from left to right. However, significantly more Cantonese-speaking adults started counting with a top-to-bottom movement after reading the text presented in a top-to-bottom reading direction than in a left-to-right reading direction. Our results show clearly that vertical counting in the horizontal plane is influenced by longstanding as well as more recent experience of reading direction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silke M Göbel
- Department of Psychology, University of York York, UK
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15
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Ocklenburg S, Hirnstein M, Beste C, Güntürkün O. Lateralization and cognitive systems. Front Psychol 2014; 5:1143. [PMID: 25339936 PMCID: PMC4189433 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2014] [Accepted: 09/19/2014] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Ocklenburg
- Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum Bochum, Germany
| | - Marco Hirnstein
- Bergen fMRI Group, Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen Bergen, Norway
| | - Christian Beste
- Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine of the Technische Universität Dresden Dresden, Germany
| | - Onur Güntürkün
- Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum Bochum, Germany
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16
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Garland A, Low J. Addition and subtraction in wild New Zealand robins. Behav Processes 2014; 109 Pt B:103-10. [PMID: 25193352 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2014.08.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2014] [Revised: 08/18/2014] [Accepted: 08/22/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
This experiment aimed to investigate proto-arithmetic ability in a wild population of New Zealand robins. We investigated numerical competence from the context of computation: behavioural responses to arithmetic operations over small numbers of prey objects (mealworms). Robins' behavioural responses (such as search time) to the simple addition and subtraction problems presented in a Violation of Expectancy (VoE) paradigm were measured. Either a congruent (expected) or incongruent (unexpected) quantity of food items were hidden in a trap door out of view of the subject. Within view of the subject, a quantity of items were added into (and in some cases subtracted from) the apparatus which was either the same as that hidden, or different. Robins were then allowed them to find a quantity that either preserved or violated addition and subtraction outcomes. Robins searched around the apparatus longer when presented with an incongruent scenario violating arithmetic rules, demonstrating potential proto-arithmetic awareness of changes in prey quantity. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Cognition in the wild.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis Garland
- Victoria University of Wellington, School of Psychology, New Zealand.
| | - Jason Low
- Victoria University of Wellington, School of Psychology, New Zealand
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17
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Fischer MH, Shaki S. Spatial Associations in Numerical Cognition—From Single Digits to Arithmetic. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2014; 67:1461-83. [DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2014.927515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
The literature on spatial associations during number processing is dominated by the SNARC (spatial–numerical association of response codes) effect. We describe spatial biases found for single digits and pairs of numbers, first in the “original” speeded parity task and then extending the scope to encompass different tasks, a range of measures, and various populations. Then we review theoretical accounts before surveying the emerging evidence for similar spatial associations during mental arithmetic. We conclude that the mental number line hypothesis and an embodied approach are useful frameworks for further studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin H. Fischer
- Division of Cognitive Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam OT Golm, Germany
| | - Samuel Shaki
- Psychology Department, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
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18
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Rugani R, Vallortigara G, Regolin L. At the root of the left–right asymmetries in spatial–numerical processing: From domestic chicks to human subjects. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2014. [DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2014.941846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
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19
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Human infants' preference for left-to-right oriented increasing numerical sequences. PLoS One 2014; 9:e96412. [PMID: 24802083 PMCID: PMC4011793 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2014] [Accepted: 04/07/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
While associations between number and space, in the form of a spatially oriented numerical representation, have been extensively reported in human adults, the origins of this phenomenon are still poorly understood. The commonly accepted view is that this number-space association is a product of human invention, with accounts proposing that culture, symbolic knowledge, and mathematics education are at the roots of this phenomenon. Here we show that preverbal infants aged 7 months, who lack symbolic knowledge and mathematics education, show a preference for increasing magnitude displayed in a left-to-right spatial orientation. Infants habituated to left-to-right oriented increasing or decreasing numerical sequences showed an overall higher looking time to new left-to-right oriented increasing numerical sequences at test (Experiment 1). This pattern did not hold when infants were presented with the same ordinal numerical information displayed from right to left (Experiment 2). The different pattern of results was congruent with the presence of a malleable, context-dependent baseline preference for increasing, left-to-right oriented, numerosities (Experiment 3). These findings are suggestive of an early predisposition in humans to link numerical order with a left-to-right spatial orientation, which precedes the acquisition of symbolic abilities, mathematics education, and the acquisition of reading and writing skills.
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