Operational Momentum in Numerosity Production Judgments of Multi-Digit Number Problems

The current study demonstrates a numerosity production task and investigates approximate mental calculations with two-digit numbers. Participants were required to produce random dot patterns to indicate the size of two-digit numbers and the results of addition and subtraction problems. The stimuli in the calculation task consisted of problems requiring a carry operation (e.g., 24 + 18) or no-carry problems (e.g., 24 + 53) or zero problems (e.g., 24 + 0). Our analysis revealed that the outcomes of additions were estimated to be larger than the outcomes of subtractions. Interestingly, this judgment bias was present for no-carry and zero problems but not for carry problems. Taken together, the presented data provide empirical support for the presence of an operational momentum effect (OM effect) in multi-digit number arithmetic. These findings and the dissociation of the OM effect for carry and no-carry problems are discussed in the context of recent models on multi-digit number processing.