Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-dfsvx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T07:09:48.842Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Numerical cognition: Unitary or diversified system(s)?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2021

Avishai Henik
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel8510501. henik@bgu.ac.ilavav@post.bgu.ac.ileladoz@post.bgu.ac.ilyoel.shilat@gmail.comhttp://www.bgu.ac.il/~henik
Moti Salti
Affiliation:
Brain Imaging Research Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel8510501. motisalti@gmail.com
Aviv Avitan
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel8510501. henik@bgu.ac.ilavav@post.bgu.ac.ileladoz@post.bgu.ac.ilyoel.shilat@gmail.comhttp://www.bgu.ac.il/~henik
Elad Oz-Cohen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel8510501. henik@bgu.ac.ilavav@post.bgu.ac.ileladoz@post.bgu.ac.ilyoel.shilat@gmail.comhttp://www.bgu.ac.il/~henik
Yoel Shilat
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel8510501. henik@bgu.ac.ilavav@post.bgu.ac.ileladoz@post.bgu.ac.ilyoel.shilat@gmail.comhttp://www.bgu.ac.il/~henik
H. Moriah Sokolowski
Affiliation:
Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Hospital, North York, ON M6A 2E1, Canada. h.moriah.sokolowski@gmail.com

Abstract

Many researchers, including Clarke and Beck, describe the human numerical system as unitary. We offer an alternative view – the coexistence of several systems; namely, multiple systems (general magnitude, parallel individuation, and symbolic) existing in parallel, ready to be activated depending on the task/need. Based on this alternative view, we present an account for the representation of rational numbers.

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

Goodale, M. A. (2000). Perception and action in the human visual system. In Gazzaniga, M. (Ed.), The new cognitive neurosciences (pp. 365377). MIT Press.Google Scholar
Henik, A., Gliksman, Y., Kallai, A., & Leibovich, T. (2017). Size perception and the foundation of numerical processing. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26, 4551.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henik, A., Rafal, R., & Rhodes, D. (1994). Endogenously generated and visually guided saccades after lesions of the human frontal eye fields. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 6, 400411.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leibovich, T., Ashkenazi, S., Rubinsten, O., & Henik, A. (2013). Comparative judgments of symbolic and non-symbolic stimuli yield different patterns of reaction times. Acta Psychologica, 144, 308315.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leibovich, T., Katzin, N., Harel, M., & Henik, A. (2017). From “sense of number” to “sense of magnitude” – The role of continuous magnitudes in numerical cognition. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 40, e164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sokolowski, H. M., Fias, W., Ononye, C. B., & Ansari, D. (2017). Are numbers grounded in a general magnitude processing system? A functional neuroimaging meta-analysis. Neuropsychologia, 105, 5069.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walsh, V. (2003). A theory of magnitude: Common cortical metrics of time, space and quantity. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7, 483488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zimmermann, E. (2018). Small numbers are sensed directly, high numbers constructed from size and density. Cognition, 173, 17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed