Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T23:08:34.422Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Do mental magnitudes form part of the foundation for natural number concepts? Don't count them out yet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2008

Hilary Barth
Hilary Barth
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06416hbarth@wesleyan.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The current consensus among most researchers is that natural number is not built solely upon a foundation of mental magnitudes. On their way to the conclusion that magnitudes do not form any part of that foundation, Rips et al. pass rather quickly by theories suggesting that mental magnitudes might play some role. These theories deserve a closer look.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 31 , Issue 6 , December 2008 , pp. 644 - 645
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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

Barth, H., Kanwisher, N. & Spelke, E. (2003) The construction of large number representations in adults. Cognition 86:201–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Condry, K. & Spelke, E. S. (2008) The development of language and abstract concepts: The case of natural numbers. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 137(1):22–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cordes, S. & Gelman, R. (2005) The young numerical mind: When does it count? In: Handbook of mathematical cognition, ed. Campbell, J. I. D., pp. 128–42. Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Dehaene, S. & Changeux, J. P. (1993) Development of elementary numerical abilities: A neuronal model. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 5:390–407.Google Scholar
Gallistel, C. R. (2007) Commentary on Le Corre & Carey. Cognition 105:439–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallistel, C. R. & Gelman, R. (1992) Preverbal and verbal counting and computation. Cognition 44:43–74.Google Scholar
Gelman, R. & Lucariello, J. (2004) Role of learning in cognitive development. In: Stevens' handbook of experimental psychology, vol. 3: Learning, motivation, and emotion, 3rd edition, ed. Pashler, H. & Gallistel, C. R.. Wiley.Google Scholar
Le Corre, M. & Carey, S. (2007) One, two, three, four, nothing more: An investigation of the conceptual sources of the verbal counting principles. Cognition 105:395–438.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Le Corre, M. & Carey, S. (2008) Why the verbal counting principles are constructed out of small sets of individuals: A reply to Gallistel. Cognition 107:650–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leslie, A. M., Gallistel, C. R. & Gelman, R. (2007) Where integers come from. In: The innate mind, vol. 3: Foundations and the future, ed. Carruthers, P., Laurence, S. & Stich, S., pp. 109–38. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Spelke, E. S. (2003) What makes us smart? Core knowledge and natural language. In: Language in mind, ed. Gentner, D. & Goldin-Meadow, S.. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Wood, J. N. & Spelke, E. S. (2005) Chronometric studies of numerical cognition in five-month-old infants. Cognition 97:23–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wynn, K. (1992b) Children's acquisition of the number words and the counting system. Cognitive Psychology 24:220–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar