Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T12:18:26.976Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The number sense is neither last resort nor of primary import

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2017

Michael J. Beran
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302-5010mberan1@gsu.eduwww.mjberan.com
Audrey E. Parrish
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The Citadel, Charleston, SC 29409audrey.parrish@citadel.edu

Abstract

Leibovich et al. argue that evidence for an innate sense of number in children and animals may instead reflect the processing of continuous magnitude properties. However, some comparative research highlights responding on the basis of numerosity when non-numerical confounds are controlled. Future comparative tests might evaluate how early experience with continuous magnitudes affects the development of a sense of number.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beran, M. J. (2007) Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) enumerate large and small sequentially presented sets of items using analog numerical representations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes 33:4254.Google ScholarPubMed
Beran, M. J. (2012) Quantity judgments of auditory and visual stimuli by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes 38:2329.Google Scholar
Beran, M. J., Evans, T. A., Leighty, K., Harris, E. H. & Rice, D. (2008) Summation and quantity judgment of simultaneously and sequentially presented sets by capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). American Journal of Primatology 70:191–94.Google Scholar
Beran, M. J. & Parrish, A. E. (2016) Going for more: Discrete and continuous quantity judgments by nonhuman animals. In: Continuous issues in numerical cognition: How many or how much, ed. Henik, A., pp. 175–92. Academic Press.Google Scholar
Beran, M. J., Parrish, A. E. & Evans, T. A. (2015a) Numerical cognition and quantitative abilities in nonhuman primates. In: Evolutionary origins and early development of number processing, ed. Geary, D., Berch, D. & Koepke, K. Mann, pp. 91119. Elsevier.Google Scholar
Beran, M. J., Perdue, B. M. & Evans, T. A. (2015b) Monkey mathematic al abilities. In: Oxford handbook of mathematical cognition, ed. Kadosh, R. Cohen & Dowker, A., pp. 237257. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Beran, M. J. & Rumbaugh, D. M. (2001) “Constructive” enumeration by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) on a computerized task. Animal Cognition 4:8189.Google Scholar
Boysen, S. T. & Berntson, G. G. (1989) Numerical competence in a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology 103:2331.Google Scholar
Brannon, E. M. & Terrace, H. S. (2000) Representation of the numerosities 1–9 by rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes 26:3149.Google Scholar
Cantlon, J. F. & Brannon, E. M. (2007) How much does number matter to a monkey (Macaca mulatta)? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes 33:3241.Google Scholar
Cantlon, J. F., Platt, M. L. & Brannon, E. M. (2009b) Beyond the number domain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 13(2):8391. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2008.11.007.Google Scholar
Davis, H. & Memmott, J. (1982) Counting behavior in animals: A critical evaluation. Psychological Bulletin 92:547–71.Google Scholar
Leibovich, T. & Henik, A. (2013) Magnitude processing in non-symbolic stimuli. Frontiers in Psychology 4:375. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00375.Google Scholar
Matsuzawa, T. (1985) Use of numbers by a chimpanzee. Nature 315:5759.Google Scholar
Pepperberg, I. M. (1994) Numerical competence in an African grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus). Journal of Comparative Psychology 108:3644.Google Scholar