Individuals tend to exhibit implicit, cognitive associations between numbers and space. Small numbers become associated with left space and large numbers with right space. This “spatial-numerical association of response codes†(SNARC) provides evidence that individuals tend to sort their spatial orientations along a mental number line. Since most cultures promote the use of finger-counting as a universal means for learning to work with numbers, it is believed that the directionality of finger-counting (from left to right or right to left) impacts our comprehension and understanding of numbers in childhood. Early exposure to finger-counting affects the way we link numbers and space in adulthood. To assess finger-directionality, past studies have utilized questionnaires and self-report; however, recent findings have exposed a new measure that classifies finger-directionality by observing natural finger-counting habits and circumvents the biases associated with self-report. This current study will incorporate this task and assess whether finger-directionality truly plays a role in the association between numbers and space. We expect to find that this spatial-numerical association is absent in individuals who start finger-counting with their right hand (right-starters); this would reinforce the idea that finger-counting habits shape mental number organization. These results should help to explain variability found in previous studies and confirm the benefit of utilizing a behavioral assessment to evaluate finger-counting habits, rather than self-report measures.
