School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
Biol Psychol. 2010 Jan;83(1):47-55. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2009.10.003. Epub 2009 Oct 23.
To investigate whether the semantic processing of numbers is notation-dependent or notation-independent, three notation stimuli-Arabic digits, Chinese numerals written in simple form (Ch-S), and Chinese numerals written in complex form (Ch-C)-were presented to participants. The participants were asked to judge which target numeral (numerical values 1-4 and 6-9) was "smaller or larger than 5" while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. Electrophysiological results revealed that the voltage activity associated with numerical semantic processing was largest across temporo-occipital-parietal electrode sites, regardless of input formats. However, the time windows for the semantic processing of numerals did not overlap across notations. Furthermore, the main effects of notation and notation/distance interaction were still observed at the stage of numerical magnitude processing, suggesting that notation might affect the semantic processing of numbers. In addition, a right-lateralized N1 for both Arabic digits and Ch-C numbers, and a bilateral N1 for Ch-S numbers, were observed; these data imply that number processing in Chinese speakers may be different from that in Western speakers.
为了探究数字的语义处理是依赖于记法还是独立于记法，我们向参与者呈现了三种记法刺激：阿拉伯数字、简体形式的中文数字（Ch-S）和繁体形式的中文数字（Ch-C）。参与者被要求判断哪个目标数字（数值为 1-4 和 6-9）“小于或大于 5”，同时记录事件相关电位（ERPs）。电生理结果表明，无论输入格式如何，与数字语义处理相关的电压活动在颞枕顶电极部位最大。然而，数字的语义处理的时间窗口在不同的记法之间并不重叠。此外，在数值大小处理阶段仍然观察到记法和记法/距离交互的主要效应，这表明记法可能会影响数字的语义处理。此外，我们观察到阿拉伯数字和 Ch-C 数字都出现了右侧 N1，Ch-S 数字则出现了双侧 N1；这些数据表明，中国人的数字处理可能与西方人的数字处理不同。
