The enigma of 5 vs. 7 in number comparison tasks

The pair 5 vs. 7 seems to be particularly difficult to process in number comparison tasks. Previous studies have reported this difficulty in samples of French-speaking individuals. In this thesis I report a study aiming at understanding whether the difficulty with 5 vs. 7 is a peculiarity of French-speakers, possibly bound to language, or whether it affects Italian speakers too. The experiment consists of a number comparison task, administered to 40 Italian-speaking University students. The results show a problematic processing of the pair 5 vs. 7, with increased response times and poorer accuracy. The fact that the pair 5 vs. 7, and especially 7 itself, is related to slower and poorer performance in a group of Italian speakers suggests that this difficult processing is not related to language. Further studies are needed to understand the specific causes of this phenomenon.