Abstract. Interference between number magnitude and other properties can be explained by either an analogue magnitude system interfering with a continuous representation of the other properties or by discrete, categorical representations in which the corresponding number and property categories interfere. In this study, we investigated whether parity, a discrete property which supposedly cannot be stored on an analogue representation, could interfere with number magnitude. We found that in a parity decision task the magnitude interfered with the parity, highlighting the role of discrete representations in numerical interference. Additionally, some participants associated evenness with large values, while others associated evenness with small values, therefore, a new interference index, the dual index was introduced to detect this heterogeneous interference. The dual index can be used to reveal any heterogeneous interference that were missed in previous studies. Finally, the magnitude-parity interference did not correlate with the magnitude-response side interference (Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes [SNARC] effect) or with the parity-response side interference (Markedness Association of Response Codes [MARC] effect), suggesting that at least some of the interference effects are not the result of the stimulus property markedness.
Experimental Psychology (2018), 65, pp. 71-83. https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000394. © 2018 Hogrefe Publishing.
Interference Between Number Magnitude and Parity
Discrete Representation in Number Processing
Attila Krajcsi Related information
1Department of Cognitive Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University,
, Gábor Lengyel Related informationBudapest, Hungary
2Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University,
, and Ákos Laczkó Related informationBudapest, Hungary
1Department of Cognitive Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University,
Budapest, Hungary
Received: May 24, 2017
Revised: November 2, 2017
Accepted: November 4, 2017
Published online: April 10, 2018
Experimental Psychology
ISSN: 1618-3169; eISSN: 2190-5142



