Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T02:41:39.509Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Constructing rationals through conjoint measurement of numerator and denominator as approximate integer magnitudes in tradeoff relations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2021

Jun Zhang*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109, USA. junz@umich.eduwww.lsa.umich.edu/psych/junz

Abstract

To investigate mechanisms of rational representation, I consider (1) construction of an ordered continuum of psychophysical scale of magnitude of sensation; (2) counting mechanism leading to an approximate numerosity scale for integers; and (3) conjoint measurement structure pitting the denominator against the numerator in tradeoff positions. Number sense of resulting rationals is neither intuitive nor expedient in their manipulation.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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

Carey, S. (2001). Cognitive foundations of arithmetic: Evolution and ontogenisis. Mind & Language 16(1): 3755.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carey, S. (2009). Where our number concepts come from. The Journal of Philosophy 106(4): 220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carey, S., & Barner, D. (2019). Ontogenetic origins of human integer representations. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 23(10): 823835.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, M., & Narens, L. (1979). Fundamental unit structures: A theory of ratio scalability. Journal of Mathematical Psychology 20(3): 193232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dehaene, S., Izard, V., Spelke, E., & Pica, P. (2008). Log or linear? Distinct intuitions of the number scale in Western and Amazonian indigene cultures. Science (New York, N.Y.) 320(5880): 12171220.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feigenson, L., Carey, S., & Spelke, E. (2002). Infants’ discrimination of number vs. continuous extent. Cognitive Psychology 44(1): 3366.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feigenson, L., Dehaene, S., & Spelke, E. (2004). Core systems of number. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 8(7): 307314.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
He, L., Zhang, J., Zhou, T., & Chen, L. (2009). Connectedness affects dot numerosity judgment: Implications for configural processing. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 16(3): 509517.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krantz, D., Luce, D., Suppes, P., & Tversky, A. (1971). Foundations of measurement, Vol. I: Additive and polynomial representations.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(2): 395438.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lemer, C., Dehaene, S., Spelke, E., & Cohen, L. (2003). Approximate quantities and exact number words: Dissociable systems. Neuropsychologia 41(14): 19421958.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luce, R. D., & Narens, L. (1987). Measurement scales on the continuum. Science (New York, N.Y.) 236(4808): 15271532.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Narens, L. (1981). A general theory of ratio scalability with remarks about the measurement-theoretic concept of meaningfulness. Theory and Decision 13(1): 170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Narens, L., & Luce, R. D. (1986). Measurement: The theory of numerical assignments. Psychological Bulletin 99(2): 166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Núñez, R., Cooperrider, K., & Wassmann, J. (2012). Number concepts without number lines in an indigenous group of Papua New Guinea. PLoS One 7(4): e35662.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarnecka, B. W., & Carey, S. (2008). How counting represents number: What children must learn and when they learn it. Cognition 108(3): 662674.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevens, S. S. (1936). A scale for the measurement of a psychological magnitude: Loudness. Psychological Review 43(5): 405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevens, S. S. (1956). The direct estimation of sensory magnitudes: Loudness. The American journal of Psychology 69(1): 125.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stevens, S. S. (1957). On the psychophysical law. Psychological Review 64(3): 153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stevens, S. S., & Galanter, E. H. (1957). Ratio scales and category scales for a dozen perceptual continua. Journal of Experimental Psychology 54(6): 377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Xu, F., Spelke, E. S., & Goddard, S. (2005). Number sense in human infants. Developmental Science 8(1): 88101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed