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The number sense does not represent numbers, but cardinality comparisons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2021

José Luis Bermúdez Open the ORCID record for José Luis Bermúdez [Opens in a new window]
José Luis Bermúdez*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX77843, USA. jbermudez@tamu.edu
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Abstract

Against Clarke and Beck's proposal that the approximate number system (ANS) represents natural and rational numbers, I suggest that the experimental evidence is better accommodated by the (much weaker) thesis that the ANS represents cardinality comparisons. Cardinality comparisons do not stand in arithmetical relations and being able to apply them does not involve basic arithmetical concepts and operations.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 44 , 2021 , e182
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

Barth, H., La Mont, K., Lipton, J., & Spelke, E. S. (2005). Abstract number and arithmetic in preschool children. Proceedings National Academy of Sciences, 102(39), 14116–14121. doi:10.1073/pnas.0505512102.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
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