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

Abstract Code Model
Verbal number
Comprehension
two x four = ?
Arabic number
Comprehension
2 x 4 = ?
Calculation
Subsystem
arithmetic facts
{2} x {4} = {8}
Abstract semantic
quantity code
Verbal number
Production
“eight“
Arabic number
Production
8
Figure 1:
McCloskey’s Abstract Code Model (adapted from Cohen & Dehaene, 1995, p.132)
The Triple Code Model
Dehaene’s (1992, Dehaene & Cohen, 1995, 1997; see also Dehaene, Piazza, Pinel &
Cohen, 2003 and Hubbard, Piazza, Pinel, & Dehaene, 2005 for model specifications) Triple
Code Model postulates three codes upon which number processing is based: (i) an analogue
holistic magnitude representation, (ii) a visual-Arabic number form, and (iii) an auditoryverbal
code (see Figure 2). In contrast to the Abstract Code Model (McCloskey, 1992) these
three codes can directly activate one another without the central bottleneck of an amodal,
semantic code. Thus, if a problem is encountered in a non-specialised modality the
information will be transcoded directly to the relevant modality for further processing (see
also Cipolotti & Butterworth, 1995 for a similar proposal extending McCloskey’s abstract
code model). On the other hand, and in accordance with McCloskey’s model, task specificity
is assumed for each of the components of the Triple Code Model: For instance, any kind of
quantity comparison and approximate calculation are believed to mainly rely on the analogue
magnitude code. From the beginning the Triple Code Model was conceptualized as a neurofunctional
model, thereby, intended to make predictions about where in the human brain the
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