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Learning natural numbers is conceptually different than learning counting numbers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2008

Dwight Read
Dwight Read
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095dread@anthro.ucla.eduhttp://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/faculty/read/
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Abstract

How children learn number concepts reflects the conceptual and logical distinction between counting numbers, based on a same-size concept for collections of objects, and natural numbers, constructed as an algebra defined by the Peano axioms for arithmetic. Cross-cultural research illustrates the cultural specificity of counting number systems, and hence the cultural context must be taken into account.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 31 , Issue 6 , December 2008 , pp. 667 - 668
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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References

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