Reaching towards an end: Numerical end and distance effects in motor movements

Abstract

Numerical comparisons are affected by the distance between the numbers and by the presence of an end stimulus. In line with embodied cognition approaches, past studies found evidence for the distance effect in continuous motor movements. The present study is the first to provide evidence for the end effect (i.e., faster comparisons for pairs that include an end stimulus of a set) using continuous motor movements. Two digits were presented horizontally on a screen and participants reached towards the larger one using a computer mouse cursor. Response trajectories were straighter (1) when the number pair included the end stimulus of 1, and (2) when the numerical distance between the numbers was large. Importantly, the end effect appeared earlier in the motor trajectory than the distance effect. The implications of this pattern for the cognitive processes underlying the end and the distance effects are discussed.

Keywords:

• Continuous movements
• Distance effect
• Embodied cognition
• End effect
• Numerical processing

We thank Ben Orr for his help in running the experiments and analysing the data.

This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation [grant number 906/12].

We thank Ben Orr for his help in running the experiments and analysing the data.

This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation [grant number 906/12].