People

Miguel Angel Ayala Cuesta

PhD students

Research Interests:

My research interests encompass two complementary but conceptually distinct lines of work.

First, I investigate numerical cognition in relation to higher-order symbolic domains such as language and mathematics, focusing on whether these domains share common semantic and cognitive principles. This line of research examines how numerical meaning interfaces with linguistic structures and mathematical concepts, considering both their cognitive foundations and their evolutionary development.

Second, grounded in the Theory of Magnitude (ATOM), I study the shared processing mechanisms across different magnitude dimensions—such as number, time, and space—that are assumed to rely on a generalized magnitude system. This work specifically addresses interactions and congruency effects between magnitude dimensions (rather than quantities per se), aiming to disentangle domain-general from domain-specific mechanisms across the lifespan.

Finally, I am interested in how insights from both lines of research can be integrated and translated into training and intervention programs for children, with the goal of fostering cognitive and educational development through domain-general and domain-specific pathways.

Publications

Projects

Highly Sensitive People & Neurocognition

2015-01-01

2015-01-02

Magnitude

Two Domains

Conference Presentations

Ayala-Cuesta, M., Andras, F., & Macizo, P. Title: COMMON GROUND BETWEEN WORDS AND NUMBERS: SEMANTIC PRIMING IN LINGUISTIC AND NUMERICAL TASK. Congress: VII Jornadas de Investigación. Retos y oportunidades de colaboración en Psicología. Modality: Poster. Place: Granada (España). Date: 5-6 junio, 2025.

Ayala-Cuesta, M., Abril, V., Macizo, P. Title: Investigating Cognitive Domain Interactions: Linguistic and Numerical Processing of «Increase» and «Decrease» concepts. Congress: XIV Congress of the Spanish Society for Experimental Psychology. Modality: Poster. Place: Almería (España). Date: 23-25 October 2024.

Ayala-Cuesta, M., Abril, V., Macizo, P. Title: Semantic and arithmetic additions: a study of cross-domain cognitive processing. Congress: XIV Congress of the Spanish Society for Experimental Psychology. Modality: Poster. Place: Almería (España). Dar: 23-25 October 2024.

Ayala-Cuesta M., Castro, S., Paoilieri D., & Macizo, P. Title: Semantic priming across domains: from language to mathematics. Congress: The Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society Conference 2023 (MCLS). Modality: Poster. Place: Loughborough (United Kingdom). Date: 5-8 June, 2023.

Andras, F., Ayala, M., Ojedo, F., & Macizo, P. Title: Numerical Cognition: Beyond just numbers. Congress: Jornada de Investigación 10o Aniversario CIMCYC. Pasado, Presente y Futuro. Modality: Poster. Place: Granada (Spain). Date: 11-12 May, 2023.

Ayala, M., Castro, S., & Macizo, P. Title: Semantic Priming Between Cognitive Domains: Language and Mathematics. Congress: Reunión Científica Sobre Atención RECA XIII. Modality: Poster. Place: Granada (Spain). Date: 6-8 October, 2022.

Ayala, M., Castro, S., & Macizo, P. Title: Dos vías de acceso para un mismo concepto. Semántica compartida entre dominios cognitivos. Congress: III Congreso Nacional – V Jornadas de Investigadores/as en Formación: Fomentando la interdisciplinariedad (JIFFI). Modality: Oral communication. Place: Granada (Spain). Date: 22-24 June, 2022.

Ayala, M., & Macizo, P. Title: ¿Qué tienen en común el lenguaje y las matemáticas? Semántica compartida entre dominios cognitivos. Congress: I Jornadas Interuniversitarias de estudiantes de Doctorado en Psicología Universidad de Málaga-Universidad de Granada. Modality: Online – Oral communication. Place: Granada (Spain). Date: 5-6 July, 2021.