D6s with numbers vs D6s with pips, is it just me?

[Thierry-Advent]

I am confident you would observe the opposite result if testing someone who did not grow up using d6s with pips. It’s not the pips or numbers, it’s what your brain is trained for.

Though it would be worth testing, since one counter-hypothesis would be that, as the pips are a literal representation of quantity while numbers are purely symbolic, perhaps brains might have an edge in intuiting the amount at a glance. At least with a limited number of dice.

Okay, now I’m thinking there could be some interesting findings here. I’d like to see an experiment done. For example, a result where pips had the edge with fewer dice and numbers with more dice could suggest some things about the interaction between intuitive counting and symbolic logic. Lotta variables, though.

For a long time four rock pebbles in your hand was enough to count, without written language and mathematics. Maybe the brain is faster with that type of pattern recognition. Certainly more usesful for millions of years than the written number 5.

 

[dbm]

It’s a very long time since I studied psychology as part of my degree but it is plausible that you are counting the dots across the combination of dice rather than counting the dots on each dice separately and then adding them together.

With numbers you have to recognise each number separately then do the maths which is probably more mental load than just counting up to 12 pips.

 

[Tigris]

It’s a very long time since I studied psychology as part of my degree but it is plausible that you are counting the dots across the combination of dice rather than counting the dots on each dice separately and then adding them together.

With numbers you have to recognise each number separately then do the maths which is probably more mental load than just counting up to 12 pips.

This depends on the language you are counting in. The longer the names on the numbers in general the higher the mental load. This is especially remarkable when it is about remembering a series of numbers.


In chinese (with really short numbers), people can in average remember longer sequences of numbers than in languages with longer numbers.

 

[Duke_]

It’s a very long time since I studied psychology as part of my degree but it is plausible that you are counting the dots across the combination of dice rather than counting the dots on each dice separately and then adding them together.

With numbers you have to recognise each number separately then do the maths which is probably more mental load than just counting up to 12 pips.

I don't count pips. I see the shape with 5 pips, my brain says "5", I see the shape with 3 pips, my brain says "3", I add them and get 8. I still feel like pips are faster for me. But my old man had me playing backgammon at like 3 or 4 years old.

 

[payn]

I prefer pips but numbers dont bother me. It's fancy designs and symbols that bug the hell outta me. I'm known locally as a bit of a dice curmudgeon. I prefer only two color contrasts and easy to read from across the table.

 

[Laurefindel]

The other day I was playing an RPG with 2d6 + Bonus, using d6s with numbers on them. My brain was slow and I kept making mistakes. The next day, I grabbed d6s with pips to play the same game. My brain started adding much faster. without mistakes. Weird. Why?

I have a similar experience; pips allow a visual representation that my brain can compute faster than numbers, which is an abstract represention. I suspect there’s a fair amount of “brain muscle memory” from childhood in play, and would likely be totally lost on dice/cards counting up to 10 pips each.

HOWEVER, this fast-counting of pips only works faster and more intuitively for me in an all-pips paradigm. If I have to switch back and forth between numerals and pips, this advantage disappears

 

[Duke_]

I prefer pips but numbers dont bother me. It's fancy designs and symbols that bug the hell outta me. I'm known locally as a bit of a dice curmudgeon. I prefer only two color contrasts and easy to read from across the table.

This is my only requirement in dice... good contrast, easy to read, "fairness" good enough for RPGs. All the fancy materials, crazy swirly colors, facets edged with runes, all that kind of stuff? Zero interest. Most of the time it just makes it harder for me to read, and my eyes are too old for that.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

I am a d6 with pips person. Love the dots! the numbers always feel .... judgy to me... i roll them worse. have I ever rolled 6 + 6? dunno... have I rolled six dots + six dots = yes!

 

[Duke_]

I am a d6 with pips person. Love the dots! the numbers always feel .... judgy to me... i roll them worse. have I ever rolled 6 + 6? dunno... have I rolled six dots + six dots = yes!

Plus, how can you shout "BOX CARS!!" when you roll double sixes on dice with numerals? That would just be wrong.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

Plus, how can you shout "BOX CARS!!" when you roll double sixes on dice with numerals? That would just be wrong.

Yas! This! ^