A common representational system governed by Weber’s law: Nonverbal numerical similarity judgments in 6-year-olds and rhesus macaques

Jordan, Kerry; Brannon, Elizabeth M.

doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2006.05.004

Cited by 80 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…This allows an examination of the extent to which these psychophysical functions overlap (as in Jordan & Brannon, 2006a). For the rhesus monkeys, an Analysis of Covariance with the normalized anchor values as the covariate and the percent of trials classified as closer to the larger anchor as the dependent variable indicated that the regression lines for each pair of anchors were not significantly different from each other, F (3, 47) = 1.97, p = .13.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Droit-Volet et al (2003) presented sequential sets of stimuli to 5-yearold and 8-year-old children and found that the PSE fell near the arithmetic mean. Jordan and Brannon (2006a), however, presented 6-year-old children with static sets of stimuli using a variation of the matching-to-sample paradigm and found that PSEs for two different sets of anchors both were near the geometric mean (a finding that matched a similar test given to rhesus monkeys; Jordan & Brannon, 2006b). Thus, data from human children have offered conflicting evidence of where the PSE falls for bisection tasks.…”

Section: Nih Public Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, data from human children have offered conflicting evidence of where the PSE falls for bisection tasks. In addition, there are very few direct comparisons of the performance of children and nonhuman animals on the identical tasks designed to assess numerical or quantitative skills (but see Jordan & Brannon, 2006a). Typically, data from nonhuman animals indicate that the PSE falls nearer to the geometric mean (e.g., Emmerton & Renner, 2006), suggesting that representations of quantity are scalar in nature or that there is logarithmic compression of those representations.…”

Section: Nih Public Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Weber fraction for each species and each set of anchor values was determined by calculating the ratio of one half the difference between the theoretical quantity at which the "L" was selected on 25% of the trials and at which the "L" was selected on 75% of the trials and the PSE (as in Jordan & Brannon, 2006a). For example, if 25% of the trials with sets of four items were classified with the "M" response and 75% of the trials with sets of 10 items were classified with the "M" response, and the PSE was established to be 6, the Weber fraction would be .50.…”

Section: Design and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This task also sometimes is used with human children (e.g., Brannon & Van de Walle, 2001; Feigenson, Carey, & Hauser, 2003). The second task is the bisection task that has been used extensively with rats and pigeons (e.g., Emmerton & Renner, 2006;Fetterman, 1993;Meck & Church, 1983;Roberts, 2005Roberts, , 2006 and occasionally with nonhuman primates and human children (e.g., Beran, Smith, Redford, & Washburn, 2006;Droit-Volet, Clement, & Fayol, 2003;Jordan & Brannon, 2006a, 2006b). In the bisection task, two anchor values (e.g., smallest set size and largest set size) are established through training, and then a larger range of values, including intermediate values, are presented.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantity representation in children and rhesus monkeys: Linear versus logarithmic scales

Beran

Johnson-Pynn

Ready

2008

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

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The performance of 4-and 5-year-old children and rhesus monkeys was compared using a computerized task for quantity assessment. Participants first learned two quantity anchor values and then responded to intermediate values by classifying them as either similar to the large anchor or the small anchor. Of primary interest was an assessment of where the point of subjective equality (PSE) occurred for each species across four different sets of anchors to determine whether the PSE occurred at the arithmetic mean or the geometric mean. Both species produced PSEs that were closer to the geometric mean for three of four anchor sets. This indicates that monkeys and children access either a logarithmic scale for quantity representation or a linear scale that is subject to scalar variability, both of which are consistent with Weber's law and representation of quantity that takes the form of analog magnitudes. KeywordsQuantity Judgments; Representational Scale; Children; Monkeys; Bisection TaskThe quantity discriminations made by many species are restricted in their accuracy on the basis of the ratio between those sets (e.g., Barth, Kanwisher, & Spelke, 2003;Beran, 2007;Beran, Taglialatela, Flemming, James, & Washburn, 2006;Brannon, Cantlon, & Terrace, 2006;Brannon & Terrace, 2000;Call, 2000;Huntley-Fenner, 2001). Comparisons with larger ratios (as determined by dividing the smaller quantity by the larger quantity) lead to lower performance levels, even when the distance between sets is constant (e.g., 8 versus 10 is more difficult than 2 versus 4). This suggests that an analog magnitude system produces discriminable representations of sets, and this system is consistent with Weber's law, which states that discrimination of sets becomes more difficult for a fixed difference as the magnitude of those sets increases.Correspondence to: Michael Beran, Language Research Center, Georgia State University, University Plaza, Atlanta, GA 30303, Telephone -404-244-2469, Fax -404-244-5829, E-mail -mjberan@yahoo.com. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Evidence for discrimination performance being modulated by Weber's Law comes from differing sources. One task, used primarily with nonhuman primates, involves judgments between two sets of items (e.g., Beran, 2004;Brannon & Terrace, 2000;Call, 2000; Judge, Evans, & Vias, 2005). This task also sometimes is used with human children (e.g., Brannon & Van de Walle, 2001; Feigenson, Carey, & Hauser, 2003). The second task is the bisection task that has been used extensively with rats and pigeons (e.g., Emmerton & Renner, 2006;Fetterm...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%