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The influence of the place-value structure of the Arabic number ...

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still represented even when only <strong>the</strong> overall magnitude <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>number</strong> is task relevant; this has<br />

been demonstrated successfully in o<strong>the</strong>r tasks such as <strong>number</strong> magnitude comparison (see<br />

also Nuerk, Kaufmann, Zoppoth, & Willmes, 2004; Pixner, Moeller, Zuber, & Nuerk, 2009,<br />

for children data; Nuerk, Weger, & Willmes, 2001; 2004; Moeller, Nuerk, & Willmes, 2009b,<br />

for adult data; Nuerk & Willmes 2005, for a review) and has now also been applied to <strong>the</strong><br />

<strong>number</strong> line task (cf. Moeller et al., 2009a). Taken toge<strong>the</strong>r, Moeller et al. (2009a) specified<br />

<strong>the</strong> basic two-linear model as proposed by Ebersbach et al. (2008) by <strong>the</strong> assumption <strong>of</strong> a<br />

fixed breakpoint at 10 driven by <strong>the</strong>oretical consideration regarding <strong>the</strong> <strong>place</strong>-<strong>value</strong> <strong>structure</strong><br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arabic</strong> <strong>number</strong> system as retained by decomposed processing <strong>of</strong> tens and units. Against<br />

this common background <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Ebersbach et al. (2008) and Moeller et al. (2009a) model one<br />

aim <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> current study was to differentiate <strong>the</strong> notion <strong>of</strong> decomposed processing from <strong>the</strong><br />

assumption <strong>of</strong> a holistic representation <strong>of</strong> overall magnitude as reflected by <strong>the</strong> logarithmic<br />

model.<br />

However, <strong>the</strong> implementation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>place</strong>-<strong>value</strong> system differs in important aspects<br />

between <strong>the</strong> <strong>number</strong> word systems <strong>of</strong> various languages regarding for instance <strong>the</strong> order in<br />

which tens and units are referenced in <strong>number</strong> words (see Comrie, 2005, 2006 for a more<br />

detailed discussion). Thus, one might ask whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>se specific differences may affect <strong>the</strong><br />

acquisition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mental representation <strong>of</strong> <strong>number</strong> magnitude. For example, more complex<br />

<strong>number</strong> word systems might be expected to impede this acquisition process whereas<br />

transparent <strong>number</strong> word systems, in particular regarding <strong>place</strong>-<strong>value</strong> <strong>structure</strong>s, might ease<br />

<strong>the</strong> acquisition.<br />

To fur<strong>the</strong>r pursue this question, we will briefly review to what extent language<br />

specificities have been found to <strong>influence</strong> numerical understanding. Subsequently, it will be<br />

outlined in which way <strong>the</strong> notion <strong>of</strong> language-specific effects may affect results in a <strong>number</strong><br />

line task.<br />

91

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