大小数量加工机制分离现象的ERP研究

An ERP Study of Dissociated Mechanisms for Processing Large and Small Numerosities

大量行为研究表明,个体对4以上非符号数量的加工存在加工机制分离现象,但是相关的神经机制研究还很少。本研究选取21名大学生被试,结合ERP技术和数量判断任务,以数量比率效应为指标,比较4以上不同大小数量加工的神经反应模式。结果显示,大小数量加工条件下数量比率效应对P2p成分幅值的调节模式存在显著差异。这支持了小数量加工基于数量属性,大数量加工基于非数量属性的观点。

Recent studies demonstrated that different mechanisms were used for processing different ranges of numerosities that up to four items.However,the neural signatures of this distinction are not clear.Here we addressed this issue from electrophysiological perspective by using event-related potentials(ERP)technique and numerosity discrimination tasks to measure the ratio effect in small and large number conditions with twenty-one college students.Our results showed that there was a significant difference between the effects of the ratio of stimuli on the P2p amplitude in small and large number conditions in the numerosity discrimination task.These findings support the hypothesis that small numbers are sensed directly,whereas large numbers are likely processed by non-numerical visual attributes.