Number recognition in different formats

Abstract

An interesting aspect about numbers is that htey can be resented in different formats. Although numbers are associated spontaneously with arabic digits, they can also be represented as Roman numerals, (e.g., MMIV), sequences of words (both spoken and written), or in an analog form (e.g., dots on a die, tallies on a sheet of paper or bar graphs). This raises the question of how numbers in the different formats are processed. What are the commonalities and what are the differences? I will first deal with the analog displays, which have a meaning both for humans and animals; and then continue with the verbal and arabic numerals, which are uniquely human achievements. In line with McCloskey and Macaruso (1995), I will use the term 'number' for format-independant aspects of numerical cognition, and the term 'numeral' to refer to modality-specific representations (i.e., analog, verbal, and arabic numerals).