IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0099499.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are Numbers, Size and Brightness Equally Efficient in Orienting Visual Attention? Evidence from an Eye-Tracking Study

Author

Listed:
  • Hermann Bulf
  • Viola Macchi Cassia
  • Maria Dolores de Hevia

Abstract

A number of studies have shown strong relations between numbers and oriented spatial codes. For example, perceiving numbers causes spatial shifts of attention depending upon numbers' magnitude, in a way suggestive of a spatially oriented, mental representation of numbers. Here, we investigated whether this phenomenon extends to non-symbolic numbers, as well as to the processing of the continuous dimensions of size and brightness, exploring whether different quantitative dimensions are equally mapped onto space. After a numerical (symbolic Arabic digits or non-symbolic arrays of dots; Experiment 1) or a non-numerical cue (shapes of different size or brightness level; Experiment 2) was presented, participants' saccadic response to a target that could appear either on the left or the right side of the screen was registered using an automated eye-tracker system. Experiment 1 showed that, both in the case of Arabic digits and dot arrays, right targets were detected faster when preceded by large numbers, and left targets were detected faster when preceded by small numbers. Participants in Experiment 2 were faster at detecting right targets when cued by large-sized shapes and left targets when cued by small-sized shapes, whereas brightness cues did not modulate the detection of peripheral targets. These findings indicate that looking at a symbolic or a non-symbolic number induces attentional shifts to a peripheral region of space that is congruent with the numbers' relative position on a mental number line, and that a similar shift in visual attention is induced by looking at shapes of different size. More specifically, results suggest that, while the dimensions of number and size spontaneously map onto an oriented space, the dimension of brightness seems to be independent at a certain level of magnitude elaboration from the dimensions of spatial extent and number, indicating that not all continuous dimensions are equally mapped onto space.

Suggested Citation

  • Hermann Bulf & Viola Macchi Cassia & Maria Dolores de Hevia, 2014. "Are Numbers, Size and Brightness Equally Efficient in Orienting Visual Attention? Evidence from an Eye-Tracking Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(6), pages 1-6, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0099499
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099499
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0099499
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0099499&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0099499?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marco Zorzi & Konstantinos Priftis & Carlo Umiltà, 2002. "Neglect disrupts the mental number line," Nature, Nature, vol. 417(6885), pages 138-139, May.
    2. Maria Dolores de Hevia & Elizabeth S Spelke, 2013. "Not All Continuous Dimensions Map Equally: Number-Brightness Mapping in Human Infants," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(11), pages 1-9, November.
    3. Ping Ren & Michael E R Nicholls & Yuan-ye Ma & Lin Chen, 2011. "Size Matters: Non-Numerical Magnitude Affects the Spatial Coding of Response," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(8), pages 1-6, August.
    4. Maria Dolores de Hevia & Luisa Girelli & Margaret Addabbo & Viola Macchi Cassia, 2014. "Human Infants' Preference for Left-to-Right Oriented Increasing Numerical Sequences," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(5), pages 1-10, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Koleen McCrink & Jennifer Galamba, 2015. "The Impact of Symbolic and Non-Symbolic Quantity on Spatial Learning," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(3), pages 1-25, March.
    2. Cory D Bonn & Maria-Eirini Netskou & Arlette Streri & Maria Dolores de Hevia, 2019. "The association of brightness with number/duration in human newborns," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-23, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marie-Claire Cammaerts & Roger Cammaerts, 2021. "Young Ants Already Possess a Mental Number Line," International Journal of Biology, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(2), pages 1-1, December.
    2. Ping Ren & Michael E R Nicholls & Yuan-ye Ma & Lin Chen, 2011. "Size Matters: Non-Numerical Magnitude Affects the Spatial Coding of Response," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(8), pages 1-6, August.
    3. Peter Wakker & Veronika Köbberling & Christiane Schwieren, 2007. "Prospect-theory’s Diminishing Sensitivity Versus Economics’ Intrinsic Utility of Money: How the Introduction of the Euro can be Used to Disentangle the Two Empirically," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 205-231, November.
    4. Gould, Stephen & Goldsmith, Emily & Lee, Michael, 2020. "The choice polarity effect: An investigation of evolutionary-based trait handedness and perceived magnitudes on laterally displayed choices," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 627-637.
    5. Arnaud Viarouge & Edward M Hubbard & Bruce D McCandliss, 2014. "The Cognitive Mechanisms of the SNARC Effect: An Individual Differences Approach," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(4), pages 1-10, April.
    6. Marie-Claire Cammaerts & Roger Cammaerts, 2021. "Ants Acquire the Notion of Zero through Experiences," International Journal of Biology, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(2), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Patrizia Turriziani & Massimiliano Oliveri & Sonia Bonnì & Giacomo Koch & Daniela Smirni & Lisa Cipolotti, 2009. "Exploring the Relationship between Semantics and Space," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(4), pages 1-11, April.
    8. Cory D Bonn & Maria-Eirini Netskou & Arlette Streri & Maria Dolores de Hevia, 2019. "The association of brightness with number/duration in human newborns," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-23, October.
    9. Maria Dolores de Hevia & Luisa Girelli & Margaret Addabbo & Viola Macchi Cassia, 2014. "Human Infants' Preference for Left-to-Right Oriented Increasing Numerical Sequences," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(5), pages 1-10, May.
    10. Danielle Hoffmann & Christophe Mussolin & Romain Martin & Christine Schiltz, 2014. "The Impact of Mathematical Proficiency on the Number-Space Association," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, January.
    11. Fiona Nemeh & Judi Humberstone & Mark J Yates & Robert A Reeve, 2018. "Non-symbolic magnitudes are represented spatially: Evidence from a non-symbolic SNARC task," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(8), pages 1-15, August.
    12. Kevin J Holmes & Stella F Lourenco, 2013. "When Numbers Get Heavy: Is the Mental Number Line Exclusively Numerical?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(3), pages 1-5, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0099499. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.