Number Time Interaction Search for A Generalized Magnitude System

Abstract

In our everyday lives, we are always thinking in terms of quantities how long would newlinewe take to reach the workplace, what would be a shorter route to get to a specific store newlinefrom where we are, how many cupcakes should we prepare for the people we have newlineinvited, how do we throw a stone that will dislodge a shuttlecock stuck in the tree, and newlineso on. Even for simple tasks like grasping, reaching, or catching a ball, subtle newlinecalculations involving distance, speed, and time are essential. To successfully execute newlineour actions, we need to synchronize these entities efficiently. For example, to grab an newlineobject kept on the table, one needs to integrate information from time, space, and newlinenumber dimensions to evaluate the obstacles present in that environment and the newlinedistance between the object and our body. Over the last two decades, numerous newlinestudies have advanced our knowledge of how humans utilize perceptual information newlineto estimate magnitudes such as space, time, and number. One of the most popular newlinetheories of magnitude processing, A Theory of Magnitude (ATOM), suggests that a newlinegeneralized magnitude system in the brain processes information related to space, newlinetime, and numbers. Since these magnitudes are processed by a common magnitude newlinesystem, they interact with one another. Earlier studies investigating the number-time newlineinteraction have provided support to ATOM s predictions. On the contrary, more recent newlinestudies have argued against ATOM and suggested that cross-dimensional magnitude newlineinteractions may emerge from cognitive factors like attention and memory. Such newlinecontradicting findings raise a fundamental question as to whether a common newlinemagnitude system indeed exists, or whether such cross-dimensional magnitude newlineinteractions result from cognitive factors. This is still an unsettled question. In the newlinepresent thesis, we examine the influence of numerical magnitude on temporal newlineprocessing in five different experimental setups. The overall results from the five newlineempirical investigations suggest that the processing of numbers a