Villani Caterina, De Muynck Glenn, Borghi Anna M, Lugli Luisa, Winter Bodo
Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, University of Bologna, Via Cartoleria 5, 40124, Bologna, Italy.
Department of Philosophy, University of Bologna, Via Zamboni 38, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
Psychol Res. 2025 Feb 19;89(2):55. doi: 10.1007/s00426-025-02085-5.
Several studies suggest that numerical cognition interacts with spatial cognition. Here, we explored spatial-numerical associations through the lens of manual gestures. We asked English and Italian participants to generate 'random' sequences of numbers while simultaneously moving the hands outwards, away from the torso, or inwards, towards the mid center of the body. These manual gestures were modeled after gestures that are common in naturally occurring numerical discourse, such as when people talk about "huge numbers" or "tiny numbers." Results showed that in both participant groups, outwards movements coincided with relatively larger numbers compared to inwards movements, for which generated numbers were smaller. This effect was small in magnitude. We also explored individual differences and found that self-reported numeracy as well as levels of gesture production and perception modulated the effect of our gesture manipulation very little, if at all.
多项研究表明，数字认知与空间认知相互作用。在此，我们通过手势这一视角探索了空间数字关联。我们要求英国和意大利的参与者在双手同时向外（远离身体躯干）或向内（朝向身体正中心）移动时生成“随机”数字序列。这些手势是模仿自然数字表述中常见的手势建模的，比如人们谈论“大数字”或“小数字”时的手势。结果显示，在两个参与者群体中，与向内移动相比，向外移动时生成的数字相对更大，向内移动时生成的数字较小。这种效应的程度较小。我们还探究了个体差异，发现自我报告的数字能力以及手势产生和感知水平对我们的手势操作效果几乎没有调节作用（如果有调节作用的话也微乎其微）。
