Hand Position Affects Performance on Multiplication Tasks
We investigated whether or not hand placement affects people’s ability to apply learned mathematical information in new and familiar contexts. Participants learned a set of arithmetic facts presented one way (i.e., in a × b = c format) and then were tested on those same facts shown in either a novel...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Insitute for Psychology
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Numerical Cognition |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jnc.psychopen.eu/index.php/jnc/article/view/211 |
| _version_ | 1797968841171533824 |
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| author | Christopher C. Davoli Connor D. O’Rear Emily McAulay Nicole M. McNeil James R. Brockmole |
| author_facet | Christopher C. Davoli Connor D. O’Rear Emily McAulay Nicole M. McNeil James R. Brockmole |
| author_sort | Christopher C. Davoli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We investigated whether or not hand placement affects people’s ability to apply learned mathematical information in new and familiar contexts. Participants learned a set of arithmetic facts presented one way (i.e., in a × b = c format) and then were tested on those same facts shown in either a novel format (b × a = __) in Experiment 1 or in the previously-learned format (a × b = __) in Experiment 2. Throughout study and test, participants’ hands were either near to or far from the stimuli. Performance on the novel format was worse when the hands were near compared to far, but performance on the previously-learned format did not depend on hand placement. Together, results indicate that hand proximity impairs mathematical performance when performance depends on the abstracting of conceptual information from sensory information. We conclude that hand placement may be involved in the application of knowledge. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T02:51:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6026cec966294f8c820d20d4f8398d85 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2363-8761 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T02:51:55Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Insitute for Psychology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Numerical Cognition |
| spelling | doaj.art-6026cec966294f8c820d20d4f8398d852023-01-02T16:06:07ZengPsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Insitute for PsychologyJournal of Numerical Cognition2363-87612020-06-016112110.5964/jnc.v6i1.211jnc.v6i1.211Hand Position Affects Performance on Multiplication TasksChristopher C. Davoli0Connor D. O’Rear1Emily McAulay2Nicole M. McNeil3James R. Brockmole4Department of Psychology, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USADepartment of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USADepartment of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USADepartment of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USADepartment of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USAWe investigated whether or not hand placement affects people’s ability to apply learned mathematical information in new and familiar contexts. Participants learned a set of arithmetic facts presented one way (i.e., in a × b = c format) and then were tested on those same facts shown in either a novel format (b × a = __) in Experiment 1 or in the previously-learned format (a × b = __) in Experiment 2. Throughout study and test, participants’ hands were either near to or far from the stimuli. Performance on the novel format was worse when the hands were near compared to far, but performance on the previously-learned format did not depend on hand placement. Together, results indicate that hand proximity impairs mathematical performance when performance depends on the abstracting of conceptual information from sensory information. We conclude that hand placement may be involved in the application of knowledge.https://jnc.psychopen.eu/index.php/jnc/article/view/211actionembodied cognitionhand placementhand posturestem educationmathematical learning and performance |
| spellingShingle | Christopher C. Davoli Connor D. O’Rear Emily McAulay Nicole M. McNeil James R. Brockmole Hand Position Affects Performance on Multiplication Tasks Journal of Numerical Cognition action embodied cognition hand placement hand posture stem education mathematical learning and performance |
| title | Hand Position Affects Performance on Multiplication Tasks |
| title_full | Hand Position Affects Performance on Multiplication Tasks |
| title_fullStr | Hand Position Affects Performance on Multiplication Tasks |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hand Position Affects Performance on Multiplication Tasks |
| title_short | Hand Position Affects Performance on Multiplication Tasks |
| title_sort | hand position affects performance on multiplication tasks |
| topic | action embodied cognition hand placement hand posture stem education mathematical learning and performance |
| url | https://jnc.psychopen.eu/index.php/jnc/article/view/211 |
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