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Measuring the approximate number system

Recent theories in numerical cognition propose the existence of an approximate number system (ANS) that supports the representation and processing of quantity information without symbols. It has been claimed that this system is present in infants, children, and adults, that it supports learning of s...

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Main Authors: Camilla Gilmore, Nina Attridge, Matthew Inglis
Format: Default Article
Published: 2011
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2134/9151
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author Camilla Gilmore
Nina Attridge
Matthew Inglis
author_facet Camilla Gilmore
Nina Attridge
Matthew Inglis
author_sort Camilla Gilmore (1256451)
collection Figshare
description Recent theories in numerical cognition propose the existence of an approximate number system (ANS) that supports the representation and processing of quantity information without symbols. It has been claimed that this system is present in infants, children, and adults, that it supports learning of symbolic mathematics, and that correctly harnessing the system during tuition will lead to educational benefits. Various experimental tasks have been used to investigate individuals' ANSs, and it has been assumed that these tasks measure the same system. We tested the relationship across six measures of the ANS. Surprisingly, despite typical performance on each task, adult participants' performances across the tasks were not correlated, and estimates of the acuity of individuals' ANSs from different tasks were unrelated. These results highlight methodological issues with tasks typically used to measure the ANS and call into question claims that individuals use a single system to complete all these tasks.
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institution Loughborough University
publishDate 2011
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spelling rr-article-93679072011-01-01T00:00:00Z Measuring the approximate number system Camilla Gilmore (1256451) Nina Attridge (1260435) Matthew Inglis (1384290) Approximate number system Numerical cognition Nonsymbolic numerosities Recent theories in numerical cognition propose the existence of an approximate number system (ANS) that supports the representation and processing of quantity information without symbols. It has been claimed that this system is present in infants, children, and adults, that it supports learning of symbolic mathematics, and that correctly harnessing the system during tuition will lead to educational benefits. Various experimental tasks have been used to investigate individuals' ANSs, and it has been assumed that these tasks measure the same system. We tested the relationship across six measures of the ANS. Surprisingly, despite typical performance on each task, adult participants' performances across the tasks were not correlated, and estimates of the acuity of individuals' ANSs from different tasks were unrelated. These results highlight methodological issues with tasks typically used to measure the ANS and call into question claims that individuals use a single system to complete all these tasks. 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 2134/9151 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Measuring_the_approximate_number_system/9367907 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
spellingShingle Approximate number system
Numerical cognition
Nonsymbolic numerosities
Camilla Gilmore
Nina Attridge
Matthew Inglis
Measuring the approximate number system
title Measuring the approximate number system
title_full Measuring the approximate number system
title_fullStr Measuring the approximate number system
title_full_unstemmed Measuring the approximate number system
title_short Measuring the approximate number system
title_sort measuring the approximate number system
topic Approximate number system
Numerical cognition
Nonsymbolic numerosities
url https://hdl.handle.net/2134/9151