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Numbers and numerosities: Absence of abstract neural realization doesn't mean non-abstraction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2009

Rafael E. Núñez
Rafael E. Núñez
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0515. rnunez@ucsd.eduhttp://www.cogsci.ucsd.edu/~nunez/web/index.html
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Abstract

The neural realization of number in abstract form is implausible, but from this it doesn't follow that numbers are not abstract. Clear definitions of abstraction are needed so they can be applied homogenously to numerical and non-numerical cognition. To achieve a better understanding of the neural substrate of abstraction, productive cognition – not just comprehension and perception – must be investigated.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 32 , Issue 3-4 , August 2009 , pp. 344
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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