NewsPronto

 
The Times


.

USA Conversation

The Conversation USA

The Conversation USA

How you map numbers in your mind isn’t universal, even among people who read the same language

  • Written by Olga Lazareva, Professor of Psychology, Drake University
imageEach person organizes quantities and gradients in their own mental space.AMarc/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Imagine taking out a 12-inch ruler and finding that the number 12 is on the left side and the number 1 is on the right side. For most native English speakers, this would be disorienting. We are used to seeing the numbers move from smallest to...

Read more: How you map numbers in your mind isn’t universal, even among people who read the same language

More Articles ...

  1. Philadelphia will celebrate Ona Judge Day to honor Martha Washington’s enslaved maid who made a daring escape to freedom
  2. Special courts helps veterans stay out of jail - but staffing losses at VA and cuts to government programs are threatening their work
  3. What Jefferson and Madison would have thought about ‘rededicating’ the US to God
  4. 5 reasons Stephen Colbert is one of the most important satirists in American history
  5. San Diego mosque shooting reflects how online rhetoric, media depictions and political discourse contribute to increased Islamophobia
  6. New SNAP rules requiring that benefits be used at stores selling healthier food could backfire
  7. Formula 1 racing shows the hard part of reaching net-zero carbon emissions isn’t the engineering
  8. How a shifting Nile landscape shaped the rise of the ancient empire of Kush in Sudan
  9. Texas Tech’s new limits on how faculty teach gender identity and sexual orientation challenge more than free speech
  10. AI interviewers can’t connect with people the way human researchers can – they can produce only data, not meaning
  11. Self-censorship, more stress, tougher recruiting – we asked US researchers how the Trump administration’s science policies have affected them
  12. Ebola strain spreading in Congo and Uganda has no approved vaccine
  13. Battleground state with few combatants – why Pennsylvania’s primaries lack competition
  14. Hurricane forecasts have improved dramatically, saving lives, but federal cuts threaten to stretch NOAA to the breaking point
  15. Hurricane forecasts have improved dramatically, saving lives, but federal cuts threaten to stretch NOAA resources to breaking point
  16. Antonia Bembo fled Venice to escape her abusive husband – over three centuries later, her opera finally takes the stage
  17. Dark patterns on the web are designed to manipulate you – why aren’t they all illegal?
  18. What are those orange balls on some power lines?
  19. Flavored vapes led to a major shake-up at the FDA – 3 health policy analysts explain the science behind the controversial products
  20. Uncovering coded antisemitism online takes both human expertise and AI automation
  21. A newly rediscovered moth species in Florida may already be at risk
  22. Companies are hyping AI the same way they talked up sustainability, but there are ways to fix that
  23. Trump’s Cabinet dramatically changed American foreign policy while the president made noise – a scholar of presidential rhetoric explains
  24. Why the Iran war is breaking the US-European strategic alliance
  25. From beef ribs to a ‘heavenly’ walk: Xi-Trump summit symbolism underscored American power and Chinese tradition
  26. Supreme Court preserves access to mifepristone via telehealth – at least for now
  27. Trump-Xi summit: Cautious progress on trade, ties and some ‘win-wins’
  28. You can persuade AI models to accept falsehoods as truth, study shows
  29. Is baby talk bad? Why ‘parentese’ actually helps babies learn language
  30. A fungal disease, along with climate change, threatens Colorado’s prized peaches
  31. AI-generated fantasies of US intervention reveal how desperation has narrowed Cuba’s political horizons
  32. Would a $1 rideshare fee affect wealthier or working-class Philadelphians more? 2 Chicago studies offer some perspective
  33. From medieval plague ships to hantavirus: How outbreaks at sea helped to shape the international public health system
  34. More than just a critical blow to Keir Starmer and Labour, local votes signal a dis-United Kingdom
  35. America’s musical founding father: ‘Liberty songs’ by a self-taught singer and tanner helped fuel the Revolution
  36. Who shops at farmers markets in the US?
  37. A ‘super El Niño?’ Why it’s too early to forecast one with certainty, but not too soon to prepare
  38. How much is a bat worth? Protecting these tiny insect-eaters isn’t just good for farms – their deaths cost taxpayers and the wider economy
  39. Why a growing number of Trump supporters are experiencing voter’s remorse
  40. Astrophysicists use ‘space archaeology’ to trace the history of a spiral galaxy
  41. Will future missions to the Moon be sustainable? It may depend on whom you ask
  42. TikTok’s popular microdramas shrink TV into bite-sized chunks
  43. Is AI really ‘writing’? From a priestess to philosophers, ancient authors would have said ‘no’
  44. How Trump plans to keep tariffs at the center of his economic policy despite stinging court losses
  45. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson disagreed about the American Revolution’s meaning even as they lay dying
  46. Baloch insurgency: Suicide bombs and uptick in violence threaten Pakistan, regional security
  47. Most people don’t know what they don’t know, but think they do – correcting your metaknowledge can make you a better teacher and learner
  48. Immigrant patients often choose doctors with a shared cultural background – what they are seeking isn’t sameness but connection
  49. Why Trump’s call to pull 5,000 US troops from Germany will hurt America
  50. Falling space debris poses an escalating risk as spacecraft get stronger and more heat resistant