Linguistic Influences on Numerical Cognition: A cross-cultural investigation using natural specificities of Polish and German languages

多年来，语言对数字认知的影响一直被忽视，有人认为中央语义数的加工在很大程度上没有语言的影响。然而，最近几年的研究表明，不同的语言方面对数值处理的几乎所有领域都产生了重大影响。在这里，我们将重点研究数词的语法属性，这些属性以前从未被研究过，直到婴儿期。该项目首次以这种跨语言的方法利用波兰语和德语(在一些对照研究中还包括英语)的自然特性。与德语中透明的规则(1个单数，所有其他数字复数)相比，波兰语中数字词的语法属性要复杂得多。例如，动词形式随着数字的变化而变化：1的单数形式，2-4的复数形式，5-9的单数形式；21，31等的单数形式，22-24的复数形式，32-34的复数形式等，25-29，35-39的单数形式等。基于早期婴儿文学中的语法效应，以及由于其他语言影响持续到成年，我们假设上述不规则现象也会影响数字认知。第一条研究路线将系统地检验学龄前儿童、小学儿童和成年人个位数的这一假设。第二个研究线将集中于语法对多位数字的影响，对于这一点，德语在数字词的词汇构成方面有一个特别的不规则性：其组成元素的顺序是颠倒的(1和20)。因此，所有影响多位数字处理的语法方面都将在波兰语、英语和德语中进行考察，以将语法与词汇语言的影响分开。在整个项目中，所有的跨语言研究都将在不同的国家完全并行进行。除了行为数据(RT和Errors)之外，我们还首次在数字认知的跨语言环境中纳入了fNIRS和眼球跟踪等高级方法，以更好地探索驱动语言差异的潜在(神经)认知过程。我们相信，这些基础研究将极大地提高我们对数字发展和认知动力的理解。

Linguistic influences on numerical cognition have been neglected for years and it has been argued that central semantic number processing occurs largely without linguistic influences. However, the last years have seen a surge of studies showing that different linguistic aspects exert major influence on virtually all domains of numerical processing. Here we will focus on the grammatical attributes of number words, which have never been studied before beyond infant age. The project is the first to make use of the natural specificities of the Polish and German (and in some control studies English) languages in such a trans-lingual approach. In contrast to the transparent rules in German (1 singular, all other numbers plural), grammatical attributes of number words in Polish are much more complex. For instance, verb form changes with number: singular for 1, plural from 2-4, singular again from 5-9; singular for 21, 31 etc., plural for 22-24, 32-34 etc., singular for 25-29, 35-39 etc. Based on early grammatical effects in infant literature and because other linguistic influences persist into adulthood, we hypothesize that above irregularities also influence numerical cognition. The first research line will systematically examine this hypothesis for single-digit numbers in preschool children, elementary school children, and adults. The second research line will focus on grammatical influence on multi-digit numbers, for which German has a particular irregularity as regards the lexical composition of number words: The order of its constituent elements is inverted (one-and-twenty). Therefore, all grammatical aspects influencing multi-digit number processing will be examined in Polish, English and German to dissociate grammatical from lexical linguistic influences. Throughout the whole project, all trans-lingual studies will be conducted exactly parallelized in the different countries. Besides behavioral data (RT and errors), we included advanced methods like fNIRS and eye-tracking for the first time in a such a trans-lingual setting in numerical cognition to better explore underlying (neuro-)cognitive processes driving linguistic differences. We believe that such basic research will considerably improve our understanding of the impetuses of numerical development and cognition.