Cross-notational semantic priming between symbolic and nonsymbolic numerosity

Abstract

Symbolic and nonsymbolic numerosities produce similar behavioural effects and activate the same brain areas. These results have usually been interpreted in terms of a common, notation-independent magnitude representation. However, semantic priming between symbolic and nonsymbolic inputs has been somehow elusive (e.g., Koechlin, Naccache, Block, & Dehaene, 1999). In Experiment 1, we looked at whether cross-notational semantic priming depends on exact numerical meaning. Dice faces and digits were mixed as prime and target. Semantic priming occurred when prime and target were in the same notation as much as when they were in different notation. In Experiment 2, we found cross-notation semantic priming even when the nonsymbolic numerosity was presented as a set of random dots. Priming, however, occurred only from sets of dots to digit, not vice versa. These data support the computational model recently proposed by Verguts and Fias (2004; Verguts, Fias, & Stevens, 2005).