Calibrating the mental number line

Human adults are thought to possess two dissociable systems to represent numbers: an approximate quantity system akin to a mental number line, and a verbal system capable of representing numbers exactly. Here, we study the interface between these two systems using an estimation task. Observers were...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cognition 2008-03, Vol.106 (3), p.1221-1247
Main Authors: Izard, Véronique, Dehaene, Stanislas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition
Cognition. Intelligence
Computation
Concept Mapping
Empirical research
Estimation
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Male
Mathematics
Mental Processes
Methodology
Miscellaneous
Modeling
Modelling
Models, Psychological
Numbers
Numerical cognition
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Quantitative analysis
Stimuli
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Human adults are thought to possess two dissociable systems to represent numbers: an approximate quantity system akin to a mental number line, and a verbal system capable of representing numbers exactly. Here, we study the interface between these two systems using an estimation task. Observers were asked to estimate the approximate numerosity of dot arrays. We show that, in the absence of calibration, estimates are largely inaccurate: responses increase monotonically with numerosity, but underestimate the actual numerosity. However, insertion of a few inducer trials, in which participants are explicitly (and sometimes misleadingly) told that a given display contains 30 dots, is sufficient to calibrate their estimates on the whole range of stimuli. Based on these empirical results, we develop a model of the mapping between the numerical symbols and the representations of numerosity on the number line.
ISSN:0010-0277
1873-7838
DOI:10.1016/j.cognition.2007.06.004