Data for manuscript : Effect of spatial training on space-number mapping: A situated cognition account

From an embodied perspective of cognition, sensorimotor mechanisms play a crucial role in abstract processing, such as the understanding of Arabic numerals. For instance, spatial cognition can influence number processing. These spatial–numerical associations (SNAs) have been thoroughly investigated since the pioneering spatial–numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect, which demonstrates faster left/right responses to small/large numbers, respectively. While there has been no systematic assessment of SNAs on other planes in three-dimensional space in the literature, recent primary evidence has revealed that SNAs along the transverse and sagittal planes are mutually exclusive with respect to the required spatial reference frames used by the participant. Specifically, under egocentric spatial reference frames, SNAs have been observed only along the sagittal plane, whereas under allocentric reference frames, the reverse pattern has been observed, with SNAs present exclusively along the transverse plane of the body. Given this empirical evidence, we have hypothesized that the subject's ability to switch spatial reference frames to match that of another person could significantly influence the occurrence of SNAs according to the processed plane. Therefore, this study has two aims. The first is to replicate previous seminal findings. The second is to investigate how referential frame switching (RFS) training can affect this organization. While the results of the two experiments reveal a general replication, more importantly, we find that RFS training enables the development of new situated cognition strategies from egocentric perspectives and the generalization of transverse SNAs to other spatial planes from allocentric perspectives.