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The dissociation between relational integration and mathematical
semantic processing underlying numerical inductive reasoning: ERP
evidence from the LNC
Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between relational integration
and semantic processing in numerical inductive reasoning using
event-related potentials (ERPs). Participants were required to identify
hidden rules in three-digit sequences and judged whether fourth probes
were congruent with these rules. The experiment manipulated relational
complexity: simple and hierarchical rules (e.g., ”12, 13, 14, 15” or
”12, 13, 15, 18”) shared identical first two numbers but differed in the
third, in order to isolate the relational integration process. The type
of cue was also manipulated: the no-cue condition presented only a
fixation point, providing no rule information; the part-cue condition
introduced operands (such as “+” or “–”) to ensure rules could be
identified after presenting second numbers and confirmed after the onset
of third numbers. The mass univariate ERP results locked to the third
numbers revealed independent main effects of relational complexity and
cue type on both the Late Negative Component (LNC) and Late Positive
Component (LPC). The independent effects especially on the LNC implies
that high-order numerical reasoning distinct from semantic processing.