Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T08:08:53.879Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Abstract representations of number: What interactions with number form do not prove and priming effects do

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2009

Seppe Santens
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. [email protected]://users.ugent.be/~ssantens/[email protected]://[email protected]://users.ugent.be/~tverguts/
Wim Fias
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. [email protected]://users.ugent.be/~ssantens/[email protected]://[email protected]://users.ugent.be/~tverguts/
Tom Verguts
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. [email protected]://users.ugent.be/~ssantens/[email protected]://[email protected]://users.ugent.be/~tverguts/

Abstract

We challenge the arguments of Cohen Kadosh & Walsh (CK&W) on two grounds. First, interactions between number form (e.g., notation, format, modality) and an experimental factor do not show that the notations/formats/modalities are processed separately. Second, we discuss evidence that numbers are coded abstractly, also when not required by task demands and processed unintentionally, thus challenging the authors' dual-code account

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cohen Kadosh, R. (2008a) Numerical representation: Abstract or non-abstract? Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 61(8):1160–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dehaene, S. & Changeux, J. P. (1993) Development of elementary numerical abilities: A neuronal model. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 5:390407.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reynvoet, B., Brysbaert, M. & Fias, W. (2002) Semantic priming in number naming. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology A 55(4):1127–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reynvoet, B. & Ratinckx, E. (2004) Hemispheric differences between left and right number representations: Effects of conscious and unconscious priming. Neuropsychologia 42:713–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roggeman, C., Verguts, T. & Fias, W. (2007) Priming reveals differential coding of symbolic and non-symbolic quantities. Cognition 105(2):380–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Santens, S., Roggeman, C., Fias, W. & Verguts, T. (in press) Number processing pathways in human parietal cortex. Cerebral Cortex. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhp080.Google Scholar
Van Opstal, F., Reynvoet, B. & Verguts, T. (2005a) How to trigger elaborate processing? A comment on Kunde, Kiesel, & Hoffmann (2003) Cognition 97:8997.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Opstal, F., Reynvoet, B. & Verguts, T. (2005b) Unconscious semantic categorization and mask interactions: An elaborate response to Kunde et al. (2005). Cognition 97:107–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verguts, T. & Fias, W. (2004) Representation of number in animals and humans: A neural model. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 16(9):1493–504.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed