From SNARC to SQUARC: Universal Mental Quantity Line?

Atanas Kirjakovski and Narisuke Utsuki

International Journal of Psychological Studies, 2012, vol. 4, issue 2, 217

Abstract: Numbers are represented spatially. Evidence for this comes from the SNARC effect (Spatial-NumericalAssociation of Response Codes). Small numerals are accessed faster on the left and large ones on the right. Theeffect assumes a mental number line. However, in A Theory of Magnitude (ATOM), both numerical (discrete)and non-numerical (continuous) quantities share a common processing mechanism. Thus, the SNARC effectmay be an instance of a general SQUARC effect (Spatial-Quantity Association of Response Codes). We devisedtwo experiments to test this hypothesis. First, 85 Japanese students bisected a quantity of water. They showedbisection bias by overestimating the right cup and underestimating the left one. In the second experiment, small continuous magnitudes shifted covert visual attention leftward, with larger ones shifting it rightward. Our datasuggest that SNARC may be part of SQUARC, and the mental number line may be in fact a mental quantity line.

Date: 2012
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