1- Psychology, Payam-e- Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
2- Assistant Professor, payam-e-Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract: (2804 Views)
Objective: The current study documents the presence of finger counting differences between right-handers and left-handers.
Method: Interviews with 110 undergraduate students aged 18 to 25 about finger counting habits in lefthanders and right-handers were examined. The instruments used were Edingburg Handedness Inventory (revised, 1986) and reports by the individuals of how they mapped numbers onto their fingers when counting from 1 to 10.
Results: The results indicated that whereas most left-handers started counting with the left hand, most of the right-handers started with the right hand. The transition between the two hands during the counting showed equal proportions of symmetry-based and spatial continuity-based patterns among the left-handers and righthanders.
Conclusion: Implications of these findings for numerical cognition and for the origin of the well-known association between numbers and space are discussed. We suggested that finger counting strategies have an impact on cognitive representation of numbers, and in particular on the way in which numerical magnitude information is mapped onto space. These data of finger counting habits support the notion that finger counting habits are culturally mediated and relatively independent from the directionality of writing systems.
Type of Study:
Research |
Subject:
Special Received: 2011/02/20 | Accepted: 2011/04/21 | Published: 2011/06/22