Effects Of Reaction Type On The Spatial Representation Of Positive And Negative Numbers Under The Order Judgment Task

The use of numerical responses to number information or time information originated very early,but the researches of psychology on number processing started late.The research on the association between positive numbers and space has matured in recent decades,but the theory of spatial representation of numbers in different dimensions,namely the mental number line model and working memory account,is still controversial.In addition,research on positive and spatial connections has matured in recent decades.However,few studies have investigated the spatial numerical associations with negative numbers as experimental materials and the mechanism of processing.The numbers are by-products of mathematical development,which may differ from positive single numbers in many ways.According to the theory,negative numbers are also represented in the mental number line,but in the existing research on the processing of numbers,the research on the spatial representation and information processing of negative numbers is slightly insufficient,and the researchers cannot agree on the theoretical basis of the spatial representation of negative numbers,which lead people to understand the spatial representation of processing of negative numbers incompletely.Therefore,in this study including through four experiments,the number pairs composed of positive and negative numbers are used as materials,and the order judgment task is used to explore the effects of different type reaction on the spatial representation of positive and negative numbers.Experiments 1 and experiments 2 require subjects to perform the order judgment on the positive single number pairs(eg.,4,8)presented horizontally,and to explore the processing and spatial representation of positive single numbers in different dimensions。Based on Experiment 1,Experiment 3 uses a pair of negative single numbers(eg,-4,-9)as materials to investigate the spatial representation of negative single numbers under horizontal reaction conditions,which reveals the characteristics of spatial representations of positive and negative single numbers in the horizontal dimension,as well as its similarities and differences.Experiment 4 Based on Experiment 2,the spatial characterization of negative single numbers under vertical reaction conditions was investigated.To reveal the spatial representation characteristics of positive and negative single numbers and its similarities and differences under vertical reaction conditions.The study found that:(1)Under horizontal reaction conditions,there is a association between the direction of magnitude value and space on the positive single number pairs,with descending order mapping to the left side of space and ascending order to the right.(2)Under vertical reaction conditions,there is a association between the direction of magnitude value and space on the positive single number pairs,with ascending order mapped to top in space and descending order mapped to bottom in space.(3)Under horizontal reaction conditions,there is a association between the direction of actual value and space on the negative single number pairs,with the descending order mapping to the left side of space and ascending order to the right in space.(4)Under vertical reaction conditions,there is a association between the direction of absolute value and space on the negative single number pairs,with ascending order mapped to bottom in space and descending order mapped to top in space.Based on the above findings,the spatial representation of positive single and negative numbers in the horizontal dimension are similar,indicating that the single negative numbers are represented by the actual value from small to large on the horizontal mental number line.In the vertical dimension,there is a difference in the spatial representation of positive and negative single numbers,indicating that the processing of negative single number is different from the positive number.The negative number is only represented as the absolute value,not numerical magnitude,which is showed the context dependence of the processing of negative single number and the flexibility of spatial representation on the vertical dimension.