Language, Culture, and Space: Reconstructing Spatial-Numerical Associations

Space-number associations in general and spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect in particular have been extensively investigated in the past two decades. Still, their origin and directionality remain unclear. In this chapter, we address the following questions: (a) How do culturally mediated linguistic and spatial experiences shape this association? (b) Can the study of culture-specific finger-counting habits and object-counting preferences contribute to a broader understanding of the embodied nature of numerical cognition? While addressing these points, we review methodological limitations of previous approaches to the study of spatial-numerical thought and identify several new developments. We conclude by briefly assessing evolutionary contributions to a largely cultural phenomenon.