de Hevia, Maria-DoloresSpelke, Elizabeth2013-02-192009de Hevia, Maria-Dolores, and Elizabeth S. Spelke. 2009. Spontaneous mapping of number and space in adults and young children. Cognition 110(2): 198-207.0010-02771873-7838http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:10304550Mature representations of space and number are connected to one another in ways suggestive of a ‘mental number line,’ but this mapping could either be a cultural construction or a reflection of a more fundamental link between the domains of number and geometry. Using a manual bisection paradigm, we tested for number line representations in adults, young school children, and preschool children. Non-symbolic numerical displays systematically distorted localization of the midpoint of a horizontal line at all three ages. Numerical and spatial representations therefore are linked prior to the onset of formal instruction, in a manner that suggests a privileged relation between spatial and numerical cognition.en-USline bisectionmental number linemental number line developmentJournal Article2013-02-1910.1016/j.cognition.2008.11.003