Fig. 1.

Experimental paradigms and behavioral results. (A) In experiment 1, auditory math and nonmath statements were announced by a beep and followed by a 4 s reflection period. Another beep announced the 2 s response period during which subjects were asked to press one of three buttons placed in right hand to indicate whether they judged the statement as true, false, or meaningless. A resting period of 7 s ended each trial. (B) Experiment 2 was similar to experiment 1 except that math and nonmath statements were simpler so that subjects were asked for a speeded response during a single 2.5 s period ending with a beep. (C) The two bar plots represent the percentage of correct responses in experiments 1 and 2 (bars = one standard error of the mean). On average, sighted and blind mathematicians performed virtually identically. Dashed lines represent the chance level (33.3% in experiment 1, 50% in experiment 2).