FAVE (Format-dependent Arithmetic Verification with EEG) investigates whether the brain processes numerical magnitude through a single abstract, format-independent code or through separate systems for different notations. Participants complete an arithmetic verification task—judging whether proposed answers to addition and subtraction problems are correct—while 16-channel EEG is recorded.

Problems are presented in three formats: Arabic numerals, number words, and dot arrays. Incorrect answers are categorized as near (close to the correct value) or far (distant), allowing us to test whether the N400 ERP component scales with the size of the semantic violation and whether this pattern holds across formats. If arithmetic relies on a shared abstract representation, the N400 distance effect should be comparable across notations.

This work was presented at the Minnesota Undergraduate Psychology Conference (MUPC 2026).