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Sizes, ratios, approximations: On what and how the ANS represents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2021

Brian Ball Open the ORCID record for Brian Ball [Opens in a new window]
Brian Ball*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Philosophy, New College of the Humanities at Northeastern, LondonWC1B 3HH, UK. brian.ball@nchlondon.ac.uk; brianandrewball.wordpress.com
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Abstract

Clarke and Beck propose that the approximate number system (ANS) represents rational numbers. The evidence cited supports only the view that it represents ratios (and positive integers). Rational numbers are extensive magnitudes (i.e., sizes), whereas ratios are intensities. It is also argued that WHAT a system represents and HOW it does so are not as independent of one another as the authors assume.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 44 , 2021 , e180
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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