Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, United States.
Cognition. 2011 Aug;120(2):225-35. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2011.05.001. Epub 2011 Jun 2.
Numbers are fundamental entities in mathematics, but their cognitive bases are unclear. Abundant research points to linear space as a natural grounding for number representation. But, is number representation fundamentally spatial? We disentangle number representation from standard number-to-line reporting methods, and compare numerical estimations in educated participants using line-reporting with three nonspatial reporting conditions (squeezing, bell-striking, and vocalizing). All three cases of nonspatial-reporting consistently reproduced well-established results obtained with number-line methods. Furthermore, unlike line-reporting-and congruent with the psychophysical Weber-Fechner law-nonspatial reporting systematically produced logarithmic mappings for all nonsymbolic stimuli. Strikingly, linear mappings were obtained exclusively in conditions with culturally mediated elements (e.g., words). These results suggest that number representation is not fundamentally spatial, but builds on a deeper magnitude sense that manifests spatially and nonspatially mediated by magnitude, stimulus modality, and reporting condition. Number-to-space mappings-although ubiquitous in the modern world-do not seem to be rooted directly in brain evolution but have been culturally privileged and enhanced.
数字是数学中的基本实体，但它们的认知基础尚不清楚。大量研究指出，线性空间是数字表示的自然基础。但是，数字表示是否从根本上就是空间的呢？我们将数字表示与标准的数字到线报告方法区分开来，并在受过教育的参与者中使用线报告与三种非空间报告条件（挤压、敲击钟声和发声）比较数值估计。所有三种非空间报告的情况都一致地再现了通过数字线方法获得的既定结果。此外，与线报告一致——与心理物理学韦伯-费希纳定律一致——非空间报告系统地为所有非符号刺激产生对数映射。引人注目的是，线性映射仅在具有文化中介元素（例如，单词）的条件下获得。这些结果表明，数字表示不是从根本上空间的，而是基于更深刻的大小感觉，这种大小感觉通过大小、刺激模式和报告条件在空间和非空间上表现出来。尽管数字到空间的映射在现代世界中无处不在，但它们似乎并没有直接植根于大脑进化，而是具有文化特权并得到了增强。
