Mixing Words and Pictures: Mixed Evidence for Common Conceptual Representations
Abstract
The relationship between symbolic and nonsymbolic representation has been a subject of long-standing debate, with the common system model and the separate systems model providing contrasting predictions. To test these models, we asked participants to compare the size of animals or numerical value of numbers, presented in symbolic-symbolic, symbolic-nonsymbolic, and nonsymbolic-nonsymbolic formats. Consistent with the common system model, performance improved as the ratio between stimuli increased in both animal and number domains, regardless of the format. However, supporting the separate systems model, we observed a switch cost in the symbolic-nonsymbolic number comparison task. Future research should explore the factors contributing to these mixed findings across domains.