Commentary: The mental representation of integers: An abstract-to-concrete shift in the understanding of mathematical concepts

Frontiers in Psychology

Melinda A. Mende¹ 

关键词: cognitive development;    mental number line;    negative numbers;    embodied cognition;    abstract concepts;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00209

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Decision times during processing of positive number symbols (1, 2, 3 etc.) inform our understanding of mental representations of integers (Holyoak, 1978; Dehaene et al., 1993; Fischer and Shaki, 2014). Effects of number magnitude on cognition include distance effects (faster discrimination for larger numerical differences in a number pair), size effects (faster processing of smaller numbers), Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC; faster left/right responses to small/large numbers), linguistic markedness (MARC; faster left/right responses to odd/even numbers) and semantic congruity effects (faster smaller/larger decisions over smaller/larger number pairs). Results converge on the notion of a spatially oriented mental number line (MNL) where numerically smaller number concepts exist to the left of larger number concepts. How do these performance signatures help us to understand the cognitive representation of negative number symbols (−1, −2, −3 etc.)? Unlike natural number symbols, negative number symbols lack corresponding real entities that support sensory-motor learning. We discuss a recent proposal by Varma and Schwartz (2011) with implications for developmental research.

【 授权许可】

CC BY