Research On The Effect Of Spatial Orientation On The Negative Number Spatial Representation Of Children In Grades 5-7

There was close connections between digital representation and spatial cognition,among which the more typical was the Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes(SNARC)Effect,which was characterized by faster response to small/large numbers on the left/right of space.Previous studies mainly focused on positive numbers,and most of the subjects were adults,with few studies on children’s spatial connection to negative numbers.This study explored the digital representation of students in grades 5-7 from the spatial perspective to expand the research results of negative representation,provided empirical evidence for the development of digital representation theory,promoted the learning and application of negative knowledge of students,and improved their core mathematical literacy.This study consisted of three parts.Study 1 adopted 3(grades: 5,6,7)× 2(Number type: positive,negative)× 2(value size: greater than 5 or-5,less than 5 or-5)× 2(reaction button hand: left hand,right hand)mixed experimental design,to investigate the difference of reaction time of students of different grades to positive and negative numbers in the horizontal direction;Study 2 adopted 3(grades: 5,6,7)×2(Number type: positive,negative)× 2(value size: greater than 5 or-5,less than 5or-5)× 2(reaction button hand: left hand,right hand)mixed experimental design,to investigate the difference of reaction time of students of different grades to positive and negative numbers in the vertical direction;Study 3 adopted 2(number type:positive number,negative number)× 2(Word consistency: word consistency,word inconsistency)× 2(physical consistency: physical consistency,physical inconsistency)under horizontal conditions,the three-factor intra-test experimental design,examines whether the origin of digital spatial connection is based on speech-space coding or visual-space coding.Based on the above three studies,the following results were obtained:(1)In the horizontal direction,students in grades 5-7 had SNARC effect on positive numbers;There was a reverse SNARC effect on negative numbers,supporting partial processing of negative numbers.(2)In the vertical direction,students in grades 5-7 had SNARC effect on positive numbers,and partial SNARC effect on negative numbers.However,positive SNARC effect in horizontal direction was greater than positive SNARC effect in vertical direction.(3)Under the verbal instruction task,the sixth grade students mainly encoded the positive number of spatial connection with verbal-spatial coding,and the negative number of spatial connection with visuo-spatial coding.Conclusion: There was SNARC effect on positive and negative numbers in the horizontal and vertical directions of students in grades 5-7.The negative SNARC effect supported part of the processing model,and the SNARC effect in the horizontal direction was greater than that in the vertical direction.Under the speech task instruction,the sixth grade students mainly encode the spatial connection of positive numbers with verbal-spatial coding,and the spatial connection of negative numbers with visuo-spatial coding.The research results could provide empirical evidence for improving children’s digital spatial representation ability.