When is an odd number not odd? Influence of task rule on the MARC effect for numeric classification.

When classifying numbers as odd or even with left-right keypresses, performance is better with the mapping even-right/odd-left than with the opposite mapping. This linguistic markedness association of response codes (MARC) effect has been attributed to compatibility between the linguistic markedness of stimulus and response codes. In 2 experiments participants made keypresses to the Arabic numerals or number words 3, 4, 8, and 9 using the odd-even parity rule or a multiple-of-3 rule, which yield the same keypress response for each stimulus. For both stimulus modes, the MARC effect was obtained with the odd-even rule, but tended to reverse with the multiple-of-3 rule. The reversal was complete for the right response, but task rule had little influence on the left response. The results are consistent with the view that the MARC effect and its reversal are caused by correspondence of the stimulus code designated as positive by the task rule with the positive-polarity right response code.