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

especially detrimental in items with a large interdigit distance, language differences should be
most pronounced in these items – as they were in the current study.
It may be important to note that these data do not necessarily imply that the spatial
representation of numbers is verbal. Rather, they could imply both (i) that the access to the
spatial representation of number magnitude may be verbally mediated or (ii) that the spatial
representation of numbers itself is moderated by verbal co-activations. In research on spatial
number representations in neglect patients, this point has received much interest recently
(Priftis et al., 2006; Umiltà et al., 2009). Neglect patients do not only have problems with the
spatial representation of number magnitude per se, but also with the integration of tens and
units in the place-value system in the neglected portion of the number line (cf. Hoeckner et
al., 2008). Future cross-cultural studies with neglect patients may help to evaluate the
question whether the magnitude representation itself (including place-value attributes) or the
access to it is influenced by language differences.
In summary, the observed language-specific effects on the number-line task can best
be accounted for by assuming a less specific activation of the distinct numerical
representations in children as compared to adults. In our view, the Triple Code model
(Dehaene & Cohen, 1995; 1997) can only be applied to children data, when a more integrative
interaction of its single systems is assumed during the acquisition of number processing skills
(see also Cohen & Dehaene, 2000, for similar suggestions to account for adult patient
behavior).
Logarithmic vs. two-linear representation of numbers up to 100
In a recent study Moeller and colleagues (2009a) showed that the mental
representation of numbers up to 100 in German-speaking first graders may not only be
accounted for by a logarithmic model (e.g., Siegler & Booth, 2004) or a two-linear model
with a breakpoint associated with children’s familiarity with numbers, but alternatively by a
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