Origins of Number Sense

Lipton, Jennifer S.; Spelke, Elizabeth S.

doi:10.1111/1467-9280.01453

Cited by 605 publications

(158 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

145

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The former, approximate and nonverbal capacity is shared across many species (for reviews, see Nieder & Dehaene, 2009;Agrillo & Beran, 2013;Pahl et al, 2013) and, at least in basic form, is thought to be present from birth in humans (e.g., Xu & Spelke, 2000;Lipton & Spelke, 2003).…”

Section: Evolutionary and Cultural Factors In Numerical Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Symbolic number skills predict growth in nonsymbolic number skills in kindergarteners.

Lyons

Bugden

Zheng³

et al. 2018

Developmental Psychology

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is currently considerable discussion about the relative influences of evolutionary and cultural factors in the development of early numerical skills. In particular, there has been substantial debate and study of the relationship between approximate, nonverbal (approximate magnitude system, AMS) and exact, symbolic (symbolic number system, SNS) representations of number. Here we examined several hypotheses concerning whether, in the earliest stages of formal education, AMS abilities predict growth in SNS abilities, or the other way around. In addition to tasks involving symbolic (Arabic numerals) and non-symbolic (dot arrays) number comparisons, we also tested children's ability to translate between the two systems (i.e., mixed-format comparison). Our data included a sample of 539 Kindergarten children (mean=5.17yrs, SD=0.29yrs), with AMS, SNS and mixed comparison skills assessed at the beginning and end of the academic year. In this way, we provide, to the best of our knowledge, the most comprehensive test to date of the direction of influence between the AMS and SNS in early formal schooling. Results were more consistent with the view that SNS abilities at the beginning of Kindergarten lay the foundation for improvement in both AMS abilities and the ability to translate between the two systems. Importantly, we found no evidence to support the reverse. We conclude that, once one acquires a very basic grasp of exact number symbols, it is this understanding of exact number (and perhaps repeated practice therewith) that facilitates growth in the AMS. Though the precise mechanism remains to be understood, these data challenge the widely held view that the AMS scaffolds the acquisition of the SNS.

show abstract

Section: Evolutionary and Cultural Factors In Numerical Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Symbolic number skills predict growth in nonsymbolic number skills in kindergarteners.

Lyons

Bugden

Zheng³

et al. 2018

Developmental Psychology

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…If the magnitude of the ratio is small, for example, 15 dots versus 16 dots (15:16 ratio), responses tend to be slower than in the easy ratio condition, and the accuracy is typically lower (Barth, et al., 2003; Cordes, Gelman, Gallistel, & Whalen, 2001; Pica, Lemer, Izard, & Dehaene, 2004), indicating harder comparison. Converging evidence from developmental and comparative studies as well as studies with people whose languages do not have number words shows ratio‐dependent performance on nonsymbolic number comparison tasks suggesting a key feature of the ANS: independence from language (Cantlon, Brannon, Carter, & Pelphrey, 2006; Izard, Sann, Spelke, & Streri, 2009; Libertus and Brannon, 2009; Lipton & Spelke, 2003; Nieder, 2009; Pica et al., 2004; Xu & Spelke, 2000). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The integration between nonsymbolic and symbolic numbers: Evidence from an EEG study

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionAdults can represent numerical information in nonsymbolic and symbolic formats and flexibly switch between the two. While some studies suggest a strong link between the two number representation systems (e.g., Piazza, Izard, Pinel, Le Bihan, & Dehaene, 2004 Neuron, 44(3), 547), other studies show evidence against the strong‐link hypothesis (e.g., Lyons, Ansari, & Beilock, 2012 Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141(4), 635). This inconsistency could arise from the relation between task demands and the closeness of the link between the two number systems.MethodsWe used a passive viewing task and event‐related potentials (ERP) to examine the temporal dynamics of the implicit integration between the nonsymbolic and symbolic systems. We focused on two ERP components over posterior scalp sites that were found to be sensitive to numerical distances and ratio differences in both numerical formats: a negative component that peaks around 170 ms poststimulus (N1) and a positive component that peaks around 200 ms poststimulus (P2p). We examined adults' (n = 55) ERPs when they were passively viewing simultaneously presented dot quantities and Arabic numerals (i.e., nonsymbolic and symbolic numerical information) in the double‐digit range. For each stimulus, the nonsymbolic and symbolic content either matched or mismatched in number. We also asked each participant to estimate dot quantities in a separate behavioral task and observed that they tended to underestimate the actual dot quantities, suggesting a need to adjust the match between nonsymbolic and symbolic information to reflect the perceived quantity of the nonsymbolic information.ResultsUsing this adjustment, participants showed greater N1 and P2p amplitudes when perceived dot quantities matched Arabic numerals than when there was a mismatch. However, no differences were found between the unadjusted match and mismatch conditions.ConclusionOur findings suggest that adults rapidly integrate nonsymbolic and symbolic formats of double‐digit numbers, but evidence of such integration is best observed when the perceived (rather than veridical) dot quantity is considered.

show abstract

“…Researchers in these fields have found that the ability to discriminate between different numbers of objects appears to be a foundational cognitive ability and have documented this ability in numerous species across the Animal Kingdom. For example, quantity discrimination has been demonstrated experimentally in several species of fish [5,11,[19][20][21], amphibians [8,22,23], birds [18,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35], mammals [9,[36][37][38][39][40][41], primates [42][43][44][45], human infants [46][47][48][49] and even some invertebrates [50][51][52]. The only study testing quantity discrimination in a reptile found that although ruin lizards (Podarcis sicula) do spontaneously select the larger quantity of food, they do not spontaneously select the option with a higher number of food items [53].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical assessment in the wild: insights from social carnivores

Benson‐Amram

Gilfillan

McComb

2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SummaryPlayback experiments have proven to be a useful tool to investigate the extent to which wild animals understand numerical concepts and the factors that play into their decisions to respond to different numbers of vocalizing conspecifics. In particular, playback experiments have broadened our understanding of the cognitive abilities of historically understudied species that are challenging to test in the traditional laboratory, such as members of the Order Carnivora. Additionally, playback experiments allow us to assess the importance of numerical information versus other ecologically important variables when animals are making adaptive decisions in their natural habitats. Here, webegin by reviewing what we know about quantity discrimination in carnivores from studies conducted in captivity. We then review a series of playback experiments conducted with wild social carnivores, including African lions, spotted hyenas, and wolves, which demonstrate that these animals can assess the number of conspecifics calling and respond based on numerical advantage.We discuss how the wild studies compliment those conducted in captivity and allow us to gain insights into why wild animals may not always respond based solely on differences in quantity. We then consider the key role that individual discrimination and cross-modal recognition play in the 2 ability of animals to assess the number of conspecifics vocalizing nearby. Finally, we explore new directions for future research in this area, highlighting in particular the need for further work on the cognitive basis of numerical assessment skills and experimental paradigms that can be effective in both captive and wild settings.

show abstract

Origins of Number Sense

Cited by 605 publications

References 27 publications

Symbolic number skills predict growth in nonsymbolic number skills in kindergarteners.

Symbolic number skills predict growth in nonsymbolic number skills in kindergarteners.

The integration between nonsymbolic and symbolic numbers: Evidence from an EEG study

Numerical assessment in the wild: insights from social carnivores

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About