Integers do not automatically activate their quantity representation

Researchers have generally come to the conclusion that integers automatically activate the quantity they symbolize and that this quantity dominates responding. I conducted a strong test of this hypothesis with two numerical same/different experiments. On each trial, I presented the participant an in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychonomic bulletin & review 2009-04, Vol.16 (2), p.332-336
Main Author: Cohen, Dale J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Automatism - psychology
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Brief Reports
Cognition. Intelligence
Cognitive Psychology
Discrimination (Psychology)
Evidence
Experiments
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Linguistics
Mathematics
Miscellaneous
Neural networks
Orientation
Pattern Recognition, Visual
Problem Solving
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychomotor Performance
Psychophysics
Quality
Reaction Time
Reading
Semantics
Symbolism
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Summary:Researchers have generally come to the conclusion that integers automatically activate the quantity they symbolize and that this quantity dominates responding. I conducted a strong test of this hypothesis with two numerical same/different experiments. On each trial, I presented the participant an integer between 1 and 9 and asked him or her to identify whether that symbol was a 5. If quantity information dominates responding, participants’ reaction times (RTs) should be a function of the numerical distance between the target and the distractor. If quantity information is not activated, the integer is merely a shape, and participants’ RTs should be a function of the physical similarity of the target and the distractor. The data from Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrate that quantity information exerts no control and that physical similarity is the primary controlling factor. These findings demonstrate that integers maintain a level of independence from their quantity representations.
ISSN:1069-9384
1531-5320
DOI:10.3758/PBR.16.2.332