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Cited by 73Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesCognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skillsCognitive Abilities and Testing

The cognitive architecture for chaining of two mental operations

Sackur, Jérôme, Dehaene, Stanislas·2009·Cognition
DOI 10.1016/j.cognition.2009.01.010
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Abstract

A simple view, which dates back to Turing, proposes that complex cognitive operations are composed of serially arranged elementary operations, each passing intermediate results to the next. However, whether and how such serial processing is achieved with a brain composed of massively parallel processors, remains an open question. Here, we study the cognitive architecture for chained operations with an elementary arithmetic algorithm: we required participants to add (or subtract) two to a digit, and then compare the result with five. In four experiments, we probed the internal implementation of this task with chronometric analysis, the cued-response method, the priming method, and a subliminal forced-choice procedure. We found evidence for an approximately sequential processing, with an important qualification: the second operation in the algorithm appears to start before completion of the first operation. Furthermore, initially the second operation takes as input the stimulus number rather than the output of the first operation. Thus, operations that should be processed serially are in fact executed partially in parallel. Furthermore, although each elementary operation can proceed subliminally, their chaining does not occur in the absence of conscious perception. Overall, the results suggest that chaining is slow, effortful, imperfect (resulting partly in parallel rather than serial execution) and dependent on conscious control.

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Authors
Sackur, J., & Dehaene, S.
Affiliations
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
  • Inserm (FR)
Corresponding author
Sackur, Jérôme
ORCID
Venue
Cognition
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2009-05
Volume
111
Issue
2
Pages
187-211
ISSN
0010-0277 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.cognition.2009.01.010
OpenAlex
W1978936274
Cited by
73
References
109
Citations by year
2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 8
FWCI
3.87
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Cognition (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
Keywords
cognitive architecture, serial processing, parallel computing, arithmetic algorithms, addition and subtraction, chronometric analysis, priming, subliminal processing, conscious perception, conscious control, elementary operations
MeSH terms
Adult, Cognition, Cues, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Processes, Models, Psychological, Perceptual Masking, Photic Stimulation, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Young Adult

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