Spatial processes in linear ordering

Ulrich von Hecker, Karl C. Klauer, Lukas J. Wolf, Masoud Fazilat-Pour

OAI: oai:purehost.bath.ac.uk:publications/d7c4fafe-d641-4b52-b31f-6116a8bb4fd7 • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000220

Memory performance in linear order reasoning tasks (A > B, B > C, C > D, etc.) shows quicker, and more accurate responses to queries on wider (AD) than narrower (AB) pairs on a hypothetical linear mental model (A – B – C – D). While indicative of an analogue representation, research so far did not provide positive evidence for spatial processes in the construction of such models. In a series of 7 experiments we report such evidence. Participants respond quicker when the dominant element in a pair is presented on the left (or top) rather than on the right (or bottom). The left-anchoring tendency reverses in a sample with Farsi background (reading/writing from right to left). Alternative explanations and confounds are tested. A theoretical model is proposed that integrates basic assumptions about acquired reading/writing habits as a scaffold for spatial simulation, and primacy/dominance representation within such spatial simulations.