Short Article: Comparing Two-Digit Numbers: The Importance of being Presented Together

Abstract

The effect of presentation mode on magnitude comparisons of two-digit (2D) numbers was examined using the stimuli set developed by Nuerk, Weger, and Willmes (2001). In Experiment 1, only number pairs from difference decades were presented either simultaneously or sequentially. In the former case there was evidence for the parallel processing of both the units and decades digits and for a components representation, consistent with previous findings. In contrast, in the latter case there was evidence for the processing of mainly the decades digits. In Experiment 2, within-decade number pairs were added to make both digits task relevant. The results from the simultaneous condition were again consistent with a components representation, while results from the sequential presentation were in line with a holistic representation, in line with Zhang and Wang's (2005) research. Results therefore suggest that the processing of 2D numbers depends on the way they are presented.

Keywords

Two-digit numbers Automatic numerical processing Numerical cognition

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Algom

Dekel

Pansky

(1996). The perception of number from the separability of the stimulus: The Stroop effect revisited. Memory & Cognition 24, 557–572.

Brysbaert

(1995). Arabic number reading: On the nature of the number scale and the origin of the phonological recoding. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 124, 434–452.

Dehaene

Akhavein

(1995). Attention, automaticity, and levels of representation in number processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 21, 314–326.

Dehaene

Dupoux

Mehler

(1990). Is numerical comparison digital? Analogical and symbolic effects in two digit number comparison. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 16, 626–641.

Ganor-Stern

Tzelgov

(2008). Across-notation automatic numerical processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 34, 430–437.

Ganor-Stern

Tzelgov

Ellenbogen

(2007). Automaticity and two-digit numbers. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 33, 483–496.

Ito

Hatta

(2003). Semantic processing of Arabic, Kanji, and Kana numbers: Evidence from interference in physical and numerical size judgments. Memory & Cognition 31, 360–368.

McCloskey

(1992). Cognitive mechanisms in numerical processing: Evidence from acquired dyscalculia. Cognition 44, 107–157.

Nuerk

H.-C.

Kaufmann

Zoppoth

Willmes

(2004a). On the development of the mental number line: More, less, or never holistic with increasing age?. Developmental Psychology 40, 1199–1211.

10.

Nuerk

H.-C.

Weger

Willmes

(2001). Decade breaks in the mental number line? Putting the tens and units back in different bins. Cognition 82, B25–B33.

11.

Nuerk

H.-C.

Weger

Willmes

(2002). A unit–decade compatibility effect in German number words. Current Psychology Letters 7, 19–38.

12.

Nuerk

H.-C.

Weger

Willmes

(2004b). On the perceptual generality of the unit–decade compatibility effect. Experimental Psychology 51, 72–79.

13.

Nuerk

H.-C.

Weger

Willmes

(2005). Language effects in magnitude comparison: Small, but not irrelevant. Brain and Language 92, 262–277.

14.

Pansky

Algom

(1999). Stroop and Garner effects in comparative judgment of numerals: The role of attention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 25, 39–58.

15.

Reynvoet

Brysbaert

(1999). Single-digit and two-digit Arabic numerals address the same semantic number line. Cognition 72, 191–201.

16.

Schneider

Eschman

Zuccolotto

(2002). E-Prime user's guide Pittsburgh, PA: Psychology Software Tools, Inc.

17.

Tzelgov

Meyer

Henik

(1992). Automatic and intentional processing of numerical information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 18, 166–179.

18.

Verguts

De Moor

(2005). Two-digit comparison: Decomposed, holistic, or hybrid?. Experimental Psychology 52, 195–200.

19.

Zhang

Wang

(2005). The effect of external representations on numeric tasks. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 58, 817–838.

20.

Zhou

Chen

Dong

(2008). Holistic or compositional representation of two-digit numbers? Evidence from the distance, magnitude, and SNARC effects in a number-matching task. Cognition 106, 1525–1536.