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How do you sort it when you are asked to write from the number 1 to 10 in order?

Level? Vertical? From left to right? From top to bottom? Or is it completely random?

Write the numbers from 1 to 10 in order. How would you sort them? | Giphy1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.

Nowadays, we, who are accustomed to reading and writing horizontally, naturally think that the "correct" order of numbers is from left to right, rather than from right to left. This sort of numbers along the horizontal dimension is called the "psychological number line" (mental number line), which describes the important spatial form in which we represent numbers and quantities.

Studies have shown that humans prefer to put larger numbers on the right and smaller numbers on the left, when people can usually compare numbers more quickly and accurately. If the area of the brain responsible for spatial processing is damaged, the person will show a similar lack of digital processing ability.

This kind of correlation between numbers and physical space is called spatial-numerical correlation (Spatial Numerical Associations,SNAs), which is influenced by language and culture. Moreover, such associations are not unique to humans. After testing, chicks born three days also tend to look for smaller numbers on the left and larger numbers on the right. Pigeons and blue Jays also seem to have psychological number lines, depending on whether they are left-to-right or right-to-left.

These findings suggest that spatial digital associations do exist widely in the brains of humans and even other animals. However, many studies in the past have discussed "from left to right" or "from right to left". In fact, is our dominant psychological number line really completely "horizontal"?

In a new study published on PLOS ONE, the team found that when numbers are displayed vertically in descending order, people process numbers faster than when they are displayed horizontally.

Screenshot of a web page | Ref. [1] how to test spatial-numerical correlation? To test the speed at which people process numbers in different arrangements, the team designed a simple experiment:

As shown in the following figure, all the combined number pairs in the range of 1 to 9 are displayed on the display in turn, and the participant is asked to use the joystick to indicate the location of the larger number. For example, if 6 and 8 are displayed on the screen, the correct answer is 8. Participants need to move the joystick to 8 as quickly as possible.

Experimental setup experienced by participants | Ref. [1] this picture shows a theoretical screen sequence: after the selection of a number pair (6) is completed, a cross (+) 500 milliseconds is displayed in the center of the screen, and then the next number pair (4) is displayed. These pairs are repeated diagonally so that the larger number in each pair (that is, the target number) appears once in each of the four corners of the screen.

The test found that the research team verified the vertical advantage of spatial-numerical correlation from the perspectives of accuracy and reaction time.

Correct rate: the prediction model associated with the correct rate shows that there is no significant difference in the correct rate whether the larger number is displayed on the left or right, but the correct rate is significantly affected by the vertical position of the number-when the larger number (target number) is on the upper side, the correct rate is higher.

Reaction time: the team distinguished between participants whose mother tongue is writing and reading from left to right (LTR, such as English and Vietnamese) and those who are not entirely LTR (such as Chinese and Korean). For the participants whose mother tongue is LTR, when the larger number is higher than the smaller number, the participants respond faster, while the horizontal number position has no significant effect on the reaction time. For participants whose mother tongue is not entirely LTR, either vertical position or horizontal position has no significant effect on reaction time.

The above results prove that there is a vertical advantage in the spatial-numerical correlation and that our psychological number line is actually from the bottom (small number) to the top (big number).

Numbers affect almost every aspect of our lives, even our lives-pharmacists need to correctly measure drug doses, engineers need to determine building and structural pressure, pilots need to know the speed and height of the plane, all of us need to know what button to press on the elevator.

As a result, the way digital information is used and displayed can sometimes have a significant impact on our key decisions. In fact, in some time-tight decision-making environments, such as the aircraft cockpit and the stock market floor, the numbers are usually displayed vertically.

"designers always need to find ways to make people understand and use digital information quickly, and our recent research may be helpful." "it also has an impact on education-maybe in addition to the familiar left-to-right psychological number line, we should also use a vertical, bottom-up psychological number line to teach our children," the team said. Bottom-up seems to be the most effective way for our brains to use numbers. "

reference

Greenacre L, Garcia JE, Chan E, Howard SR, Dyer AG (2022) Vertical versus horizontal Spatial-Numerical Associations (SNA): A processing advantage for the vertical dimension. PLoS ONE 17 (8): e0262559.

[2] https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-08-left-natural-brains-faster-bottom.html

Research team

Adrian G. Dyer: Department of Science, Monash University

First author Luke Greenacre: school of Business and Economics, Monash University

Paper information

Publish periodical PLoS ONE

Released on August 25, 2022

Paper title Vertical versus horizontal Spatial-Numerical Associations (SNA): A processing advantage for the vertical dimension

(DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0262559)

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: I am a scientist iScientist (ID:IamaScientist), compiled by Bamboo, edited by Jin Xiaoming, typesetting by Yin Ningliu

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