Commentary : The Developmental Trajectory of the Operational Momentum Effect

Frontiers in Psychology

Martin H. Fischer¹ 

关键词: embodied cognition;    operational momentum;    SNARC effect;    mental arithmetic;    numerical cognition;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02259

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Recently, Pinheiro-Chagas et al. (2018) studied the development of the operational momentum (OM) which denotes a tendency to accept larger than correct outcomes in addition and smaller than correct outcomes in subtraction. The authors reviewed some theories of OM and derived two competing predictions. First, they described the attentional account, according to which OM results from an overshoot of an attentional spotlight when moving along the spatially oriented mental number line (MNL) in accordance with the magnitude of the second operand. Given that “formal schooling …might consolidate a systematic movement direction during the acquisition of arithmetical skills” (p.3), older children should show more OM. Secondly, they described the compression account of OM according to which linear operations (addition, subtraction) are performed on logarithmically compressed operand representations. Referring to a log-to-linear developmental shift in the placement of numbers on visually presented number lines, they predicted that older children should show less (un-) compression and thus less OM. Their results from 8 to 12-year olds showed a gradual increase of OM starting at 9 years and thus supported the attentional account.

【 授权许可】

CC BY