Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42426043›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2026

Number comparison in bilinguals is not affected by their second language.

Silke M Göbel, Veniamin Shiron, Miriam Tucker, Angela De Bruin

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Silke M GöbelDepartment of Psychology, University of York, York, UK. silke.goebel@york.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8845-6026
Veniamin ShironDepartment of Psychology, University of York, York, UK.
Miriam TuckerDepartment of Psychology, University of York, York, UK.
Angela De BruinDepartment of Psychology, University of York, York, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8326-0294

Funding

Experimental Psychology Society Undergraduate Research BursaryResearch Council of Norway 331640
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Language background can show subtle effects on number comparison even with Arabic digits. Number pairs can be decade-unit compatible, i.e. the decision about number size is the same for unit and decade (e.g. 24 and 57, 2 < 5 and 4 < 7), or decade-unit incompatible (e.g. 29 and 57, 2 < 5 but 9 > 7). Incompatible pairs often lead to longer response times. This compatibility effect is larger in languages with number word inversion (e.g. German). We aimed to investigate the influence of language on the compatibility effect in bilinguals. In Experiment 1, we compared the compatibility effect in German monolinguals and German-English bilinguals. We found a significant compatibility effect, but no significant differences between the mono- and bilinguals. In Experiment 2, we manipulated language activation within participants by asking German-English bilinguals to describe scenes either in English or German before completing number comparison trials. There was a significant cost of switching languages, showing that participants did activate German and English. However, the size of the compatibility effect was not significantly influenced by participants activating German or English. Overall, we did not find an influence of a bilingual's language on number comparison with Arabic digits.

Indexed as

BilingualismL2Language switchingNumber word inversionUnit-decade compatibility effect

Identifiers

PMID42426043
PMCPMC13350747

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.