How Evolution Constrains Human Numerical Concepts

Cantlon, Jessica F.

doi:10.1111/cdep.12264

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(61 reference statements)

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“…In contrast, the AMS permits an overall view of numerical magnitudes on the whole non-symbolic number line 19 . Non-symbolic calculation is widespread among animals; in humans, it is considered the root of symbolic counting [59][60][61] . The availability of strategies for enhancing non-symbolic counting may inspire proactive interventions in loss-making mathematic cases in humans.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individually distinctive features facilitate numerical discrimination of sets of objects in domestic chicks

Rugani

Loconsole

Simion

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Day-old domestic chicks approach the larger of two groups of identical objects, but in a 3 vs 4 comparison, their performance is random. Here we investigated whether adding individually distinctive features to each object would facilitate such discrimination. Chicks reared with 7 objects were presented with the operation 1 + 1 + 1 vs 1 + 1 + 1 + 1. When objects were all identical, chicks performed randomly, as expected (Experiment 1). In the remaining experiments, objects differed from one another due to additional features. Chicks succeeded when those features were differently oriented segments (Experiment 2) but failed when the features were arranged to depict individually different face-like displays (Experiment 3). Discrimination was restored if the face-like stimuli were presented upside-down, disrupting global processing (Experiment 4). Our results support the claim that numerical discrimination in 3 vs 4 comparison benefits from the presence of distinctive features that enhance object individuation due to individual processing. Interestingly, when the distinctive features are arranged into upright face-like displays, the process is susceptible to global over local interference due to configural processing. This study was aimed at assessing whether individual object processing affects numerical discrimination. We hypothesise that in humans similar strategies aimed at improving performance at the non-symbolic level may have positive effects on symbolic mathematical abilities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individually distinctive features facilitate numerical discrimination of sets of objects in domestic chicks

Rugani

Loconsole

Simion

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…The capacity to estimate numerical quantities without using language or counting is a universal ability in humans supported by a cognitive system that is evolutionarily ancient, preverbal, and functional at birth (Cantlon, 2018). In this article, I approach the phenomenon of a connection between the number system and the spatial system, and discuss a series of properties that characterize this relationship, focusing on its developmental origins.…”

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confidence: 99%

How the Human Mind Grounds Numerical Quantities on Space

Hevia

2021

Child Dev Perspectives

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The propensity to use a spatial framework to organize other pieces of information is a widespread phenomenon that permeates humans’ representation of diverse concepts, including numerical quantities. Developmental studies on numerical cognition have revealed that humans possess a system for abstract quantity representation that is functional at birth and connects to a spatial representation system. Human infants, children, and adults link increases and decreases in numerical quantity to corresponding increases and decreases of spatial extent, as well as to lateralized right/left spatial positions, respectively. In this article, I discuss the origins of number‐space mappings, their presence throughout development, and their functional properties. I also argue that number‐space mappings reflect inborn biases, possibly shared across other species, that support both efficient magnitude processing and serial learning.

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“…Quantitative sensitivity is an aspect of cognition that is ubiquitous among many species, and many researchers debate the nature of its evolutionary basis across taxa, including in humans and other primates [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Baboons use numerical estimation to guide troop movement [7,8], desert ants and fiddler crabs navigate by keeping track of the number of steps they have taken [9,10], and social species like hyenas and lions vocalize or approach other conspecific groups only when their group has a numerical advantage [11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of quantitative sensitivity

Bryer

Koopman

Cantlon

et al. 2021

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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The ability to represent approximate quantities appears to be phylogenetically widespread, but the selective pressures and proximate mechanisms favouring this ability remain unknown. We analysed quantity discrimination data from 672 subjects across 33 bird and mammal species, using a novel Bayesian model that combined phylogenetic regression with a model of number psychophysics and random effect components. This allowed us to combine data from 49 studies and calculate the Weber fraction (a measure of quantity representation precision) for each species. We then examined which cognitive, socioecological and biological factors were related to variance in Weber fraction. We found contributions of phylogeny to quantity discrimination performance across taxa. Of the neural, socioecological and general cognitive factors we tested, cortical neuron density and domain-general cognition were the strongest predictors of Weber fraction, controlling for phylogeny. Our study is a new demonstration of evolutionary constraints on cognition, as well as of a relation between species-specific neuron density and a particular cognitive ability. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Systems neuroscience through the lens of evolutionary theory’.

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How Evolution Constrains Human Numerical Concepts

Cited by 12 publications

References 47 publications

Individually distinctive features facilitate numerical discrimination of sets of objects in domestic chicks

Individually distinctive features facilitate numerical discrimination of sets of objects in domestic chicks

How the Human Mind Grounds Numerical Quantities on Space

The evolution of quantitative sensitivity

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