On The Impact of Different Number Representations in the Number Bisection Task

The number bisection task — in which the numerical middle of two other numbers has to be determined (e.g., 6 is the numerical middle of 4 and 8) - has recently been used in neuropsychological case studies in addition to the number comparison task to assess quantitative capabilities in number process...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Cortex Vol. 38; no. 5; pp. 691 - 715
Main Authors:	Nuerk, Hans-Christoph, Geppert, Barbara E., van Herten, Marieke, Willmes, Klaus
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Italy Elsevier Srl 01-12-2002
Subjects:	Adult Analysis of Variance Concept Formation Female Humans Male Mathematics multiplication neuropsychological assessment Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data number bisection task number processing Probability Learning Problem Solving Psychometrics Reaction Time Regression Analysis number bisection task number processing neuropsychological assessment multiplication
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Summary:	The number bisection task — in which the numerical middle of two other numbers has to be determined (e.g., 6 is the numerical middle of 4 and 8) - has recently been used in neuropsychological case studies in addition to the number comparison task to assess quantitative capabilities in number processing. While factors determining difficulty in normal participants have often been systematically investigated in the number comparison task, this has not yet been done in the number bisection task. Based on a pilot study by van Herten (1999), we extracted four factors that we hypothesized to modulate difficulty in a verification version of the number bisection task in normal participants: Multiplicativity (whether or not the three numbers are part of a multiplication table), range (distance between the smallest and the largest number) for bisectable number triplets as well as distance of the middle number to the numerical middle, and bisection possibility for non-bisectable triplets. In the current study, we obtained large effects for all four factors on RT and accuracy data and some interesting interactions in normal participants. In a regression analysis, we additionally observed inhibitory effects of decade crossing and of ten inclusion (whether or not one of the three numbers was a decade number). We discuss the impact of these results for the use of the number bisection task as an assessment tool in neuropsychology. Finally, we examine the consequences of these results for models of number processing.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0010-9452 1973-8102
DOI:	10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70038-8