Finger-Counting Habits and Number Processing in Canadian and Chinese University Students

Description

In the past few years there has been increasing attention paid to the influence of the motor system on numerical cognition. A 2010 study by Domahs, Moeller, Huber, Willmes and Nuerk tested German and Chinese university students. Number processing time was influenced by cross cultural differences in finger counting habits
This thesis replicated and elaborated on the aforementioned research design. This consisted of recruiting a sample of from a Chinese university and comparing them to a sample of Canadian university students. This study also compared within culture differences in participants' starting counting hand using additional SNARC analyses. A second experiment evaluated the possibility that asking participants about finger counting habits prior to the experiment may influence later answers. Cross cultural and within culture differences in finger counting habits influenced number processing. Participants also appeared to be more reliable reporters of their finger counting habits if asked at the end of the task rather than at the beginning.
Author Keywords: Canadian, Chinese, Cross-cultural, Finger-counting, Magnitude, Number