Is 5€ the Same as 5? An Experimental Investigation into the Role of Value Attribution in Numerical Processing

In this study, we aimed to replicate the research conducted by Gianluca Grimalda et al., titled "Money Counts: Effects of Monetary vs. Purely Numerical Values on the Mental Representation of Quantities." Participants were asked to indicate the quantity they associated with various stimuli by clicking on a horizontal line displayed on the screen. The stimuli consisted of two types: Arabic numerals and images of euro banknotes. The horizontal line featured two different types of anchors at its extremes. In one condition, the anchors were fixed numerical values (“2 and 502” or “2€ and 502€”), while in the other, they were fuzzy verbal descriptors (“little and much” or “small and large”). After completing this task, participants proceeded to solve a series of mathematical problems identical to those used in the original study, designed to assess their knowledge of fractions, percentages, and probability. The final part of the study involved a questionnaire, which we adapted to our specific research interests. Unlike the original, our version included questions on participants’ spending habits, personal financial practices, and socioeconomic status. In this paper, we will focus on analyzing the first part of the experiment — the Quantity-to-Position task — with particular attention to the Fixed condition.