Vogel Stephan E, Koren Nikolaus, Falb Stefan, Haselwander Martina, Spradley Anna, Schadenbauer Philip, Tanzmeister Sandra, Grabner Roland H
Educational Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Austria.
Educational Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Austria.
Acta Psychol (Amst). 2019 Feb;193:30-41. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2018.12.001. Epub 2018 Dec 22.
Recent findings have demonstrated that numerical order processing (i.e., the application of knowledge that numbers are organized in a sequence) constitutes a unique and reliable predictor of arithmetic performance. The present work investigated two central questions to further our understanding of numerical order processing and its relationship to arithmetic. First, are numerical order sequences processed without conscious monitoring (i.e., automatically)? Second, are automatic and intentional ordinal processing differentially related to arithmetic performance? In the first experiment, adults completed a novel ordinal congruity task. Participants had to evaluate whether number triplets were arranged in a correct (e.g., ) physical order or not (e.g., ). Results of this experiment showed that participants were faster to decide that the physical size of ascending numbers was in-order when the physical and numerical values were congruent compared to when they were incongruent (i.e., congruency effect). In the second experiment, a new group of participants was asked to complete an ordinal congruity task, an ordinal verification task (i.e., are the number triplets in a correct order or not) and an arithmetic fluency test. Results of this experiment revealed that the automatic processing of ascending numerical order is influenced by the numerical distance of the numbers. Correlation analysis further showed that only reaction time measures of the intentional ordinal verification task were associated with arithmetic performance. While the findings of the present work suggest that ascending numerical order is processed automatically, the relationship between numerical order processing and arithmetic appears to be limited to the intentional manipulation of numbers. The present findings show that the mental engagement of verifying the order of numbers is a crucial factor for explaining the link between numerical order processing and arithmetic performance.
最近的研究结果表明，数字顺序处理（即运用数字按顺序排列这一知识）是算术能力的一个独特且可靠的预测指标。本研究探讨了两个核心问题，以加深我们对数字顺序处理及其与算术关系的理解。第一，数字顺序序列的处理是否无需有意识的监控（即自动进行）？第二，自动和有意的序数处理与算术能力的关系是否存在差异？在第一个实验中，成年人完成了一项新颖的序数一致性任务。参与者必须评估数字三元组是否按正确的（例如， ）物理顺序排列（例如， ）。该实验结果表明，与物理值和数字值不一致时相比，当物理值和数字值一致时，参与者能更快地判断升序数字的物理大小是按顺序排列的（即一致性效应）。在第二个实验中，一组新的参与者被要求完成一项序数一致性任务、一项序数验证任务（即数字三元组顺序是否正确）和一项算术流畅性测试。该实验结果显示，升序数字顺序的自动处理受数字间数值距离的影响。相关分析进一步表明，只有有意序数验证任务的反应时间测量结果与算术能力相关。虽然本研究结果表明升序数字顺序是自动处理的，但数字顺序处理与算术之间的关系似乎仅限于对数字的有意操作。目前的研究结果表明，验证数字顺序时的心理参与是解释数字顺序处理与算术能力之间联系的关键因素。
