The SNARC Effect Of Mongolian And Han Undergraduates

Numerical cognition is the advanced cognitive function of human.In the studies of numerical cognition,the connection between number and space has always been a hot topic of research.The discovery of the Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes effect(SNARC effect)and the introduction of the mental number line provide evidence support and theoretical explanation for the connection between numerical and spatial representation.Most of the studies on the SNARC effect and mental number line concentrated on horizontal dimension,however there is less related studies on vertical dimension and the conclusions are not unified.Some studies have pointed out that the connection between number and space is flexible,and the specific expression forms are influenced by many factors.At present,in the studies of the influential factors of the SNARC effect and mental number line in vertical dimension,lack of studies on effects of experimental materials with a strict vertical writing form on reading and writing experience.The reading and writing experience of Mongolian are very special,take the vertical direction from top to bottom as the priority reading and writing direction.As verbal numerals,Mongolian numerals are a special material to study the influence of reading and writing experience on the mental number line in vertical dimension.At present,there is no study on Mongolian numerals spatial representation and it is necessary to explore the form of it.In this study,Han and Mongolian undergraduates are taken as the study subject,the differences between the SNARC effects of the Arabic and verbal numerals in horizontal and vertical dimensions are compared between two kinds of participants,and the spatial representations of the Mongolian numerals in horizontal and vertical dimensions are studied.This paper consists of two studies,on horizontal and vertical dimensions respectively.Study 1 consists of two experiments,using the parity judgment tasks and a 2(notation: Arabic,verbal numerals)× 2(responding position: right and left)× 2(magnitude category: small and large)within-subjects design to explore the spatial representation in horizontal dimension of the Arabic and Chinese numerals by Han undergraduates,and the Arabic and Mongolian numerals by Mongolian undergraduates.Study 2 consists of two experiments,using the same parity judgment tasks and the within-subjects design to explore the spatial representation in vertical dimension of the Arabic and Chinese numerals by Han undergraduates,and the Arabic,Chinese and Mongolian numerals by Mongolian undergraduates.The findings are as follows:(1)Both Han and Mongolian undergraduates have the SNARC effects on the Arabic and Han undergraduates on the Chinese numerals in horizontal dimension,showing relation of the small number to the left and the large number to the right.Mongolian undergraduates have not shown the SNARC effects on Mongolian numerals in horizontal dimension.(2)Only Mongolian undergraduates have the SNARC effects on the Mongolian numerals in vertical dimension,showing relation of the small number to the upper side and the large number to the lower side.Both Han and Mongolian undergraduates have not shown the SNARC effects on Arabic and Chinese numerals in vertical dimension.