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Verbal Working Memory Load Dissociates Common Indices Of The Numerical Distance Effect: Implications For The Study Of Numerical Cognition, Erin A. Maloney, Nathaniel Barr, Evan F. Risko, Jonathan A. Fugelsang

Publications and Scholarship

In four experiments, we explore the role that verbal WM plays in numerical comparison. Experiment 1 demonstrates that verbal WM load differentially impacts the two most common variants of numerical comparison tasks, evidenced by distinct modulation of the size of the numerical distance effect (NDE). Specifically, when comparing one Arabic digit to a standard, the size of the NDE increases as a function of increased verbal WM load; however, when comparing two simultaneously presented Arabic digits, the size of the NDE decreases (and here is eliminated) as a function of an increased verbal WM load. Experiment 2, using the same …