Reading habits for both words and numbers contribute to the SNARC effect.

Full Abstract

This study compared the spatial representation of numbers in three groups of adults: Canadians, who read both English words and Arabic numbers from left to right; Palestinians, who read Arabic words and Arabic-Indic numbers from right to left; and Israelis, who read Hebrew words from right to left but Arabic numbers from left to right. Canadians associated small numbers with left and large numbers with right space (the SNARC effect), Palestinians showed the reverse association, and Israelis had no reliable spatial association for numbers. These results suggest that reading habits for both words and numbers contribute to the spatial representation of numbers.

Author information

Author/s: Shaki, Samuel (S); Fischer, Martin H (MH); Petrusic, William M (WM);

Affiliation: Ariel University Center of Samaria, Ariel, Israel. samuel_shaki(-atsign-)hotmail.com

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Psychonomic bulletin & review (Psychon Bull Rev), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Apr; vol 16 (issue 2) : pp 328-31

Dates: Created 2009/03/18; Completed 2009/06/11;

PMID: 19293102, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 6/11/2009, IMS Date: 11 Jun 2009 00:00:00)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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