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Beyond the SNARC effect: distance–number mapping occurs in the peripersonal space

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Abstract

Estimating distance of objects relative to one’s body is important for interaction with the environment. Given that distance is an interval of magnitude describing space, distance and the commonly used estimations of magnitude, i.e., numbers, may share a common representation system (the ATOM theory, Walsh in Trends Cogn Sci 7(11):483–488, 2003). The current study systematically examined the association between distance and number representations on both the sagittal and transverse axes on the transverse plane in the peripersonal space. Participants in Experiment 1 judged the parity of digits by pressing one of two buttons (both were in front of participants): One was near the body and the other away from it. We found that near responses were faster when paired with smaller numbers and far responses with larger numbers. When one button was set in front and the other in back in Experiment 2, no mapping was found. In Experiment 3, when both buttons were on the right side aligned with the transverse axis, small-near and large-far mapping were found. However, no such effect was found on the left side. These results suggest that numbers are mapped onto the whole transverse plane of the peripersonal space, not only a left–right oriented number line.

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Notes

  1. In the following text, if it is not specifically indicated, “distance” refers to the distance relative to our body in the peripersonal space. It should be distinguished from the physical distance between two arbitrary objects or the mental distance between two numbers, because what we are interested in is the distance representation in the peripersonal space which serves for our limb movements, rather than the domain-general spatial representation.

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Acknowledgments

This study is supported by a grant from National Science Council of Taiwan (MOST101-2410-H-002-083-MY3). We thank Ren-Hao Li for the initial discussion of the idea, and Jye-Sheng Tan and An-Yi Chang for helpful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan

    Yi-Huan Chen, Ji-Fan Zhou & Su-Ling Yeh

  2. Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Ji-Fan Zhou

  3. Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Su-Ling Yeh

  4. Neurobiology and Cognitive Science Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Su-Ling Yeh

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  1. Yi-Huan Chen
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  2. Ji-Fan Zhou
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Correspondence to Su-Ling Yeh.

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Chen, YH., Zhou, JF. & Yeh, SL. Beyond the SNARC effect: distance–number mapping occurs in the peripersonal space. Exp Brain Res 233, 1519–1528 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-015-4225-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-015-4225-9

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