The SNARC effect involves both representation and response-selection
processing stages: Evidence from ERPs
Abstract
The processing stage (i.e., the early semantic representation stage, the
late response-selection stage, or both) at which the spatial-numerical
association of response codes (SNARC) effect occurs is still
controversial. The two-stage processing model hypothesizes that the
SNARC effect involves both stages and that different interference
factors acting at the two stages might be the core reason for the
observed stage flexibility of the SNARC effect. To test this hypothesis,
the present study was designed to elicit the SNARC, Stroop
(semantic-representation stage related), and Simon (response-selection
stage related) effects together in one magnitude comparison task and
used the event-related potentials (ERPs) to observe the temporal
dynamics of these effects. The behavioral results showed no interaction
between the Stroop and Simon effects, while these two effects both
interacted with the SNARC effect. Furthermore, the ERP results showed an
interaction of the Stroop effect with the SNARC effect for the early
sensory P1 component, while the interaction of the Simon effect with the
SNARC effect was evident for the late N2 and P300 components. The
current study repeatedly verified the independence of Stroop and Simon
effects. Most importantly, the temporal-specific interactions among the
SNARC effect and the other two stage-related factors provided further
evidence to support the two-stage processing model that the SNARC effect
involves both the representation and response-selection stages.