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The approximate number system represents rational numbers: The special case of an empty set

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2021

Michal Pinhas Open the ORCID record for Michal Pinhas [Opens in a new window] ,
Rut Zaks-Ohayon  and
Joseph Tzelgov
Michal Pinhas
Affiliation:
Department of Behavioral Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel. michalpi@ariel.ac.il https://pinhaslab.com
Rut Zaks-Ohayon
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Achva Academic College, Arugot, 79800, Israel Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel. zaksru@post.bgu.ac.il
Joseph Tzelgov
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Achva Academic College, Arugot, 79800, Israel Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel. zaksru@post.bgu.ac.il Department of Psychology, and Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel. tzelgov@bgu.ac.il https://in.bgu.ac.il/humsos/psych/eng/Pages/staff/Joseph_en.aspx
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Abstract

We agree with Clarke and Beck that the approximate number system represents rational numbers, and we demonstrate our support by highlighting the case of the empty set – the non-symbolic manifestation of zero. It is particularly interesting because of its perceptual and semantic uniqueness, and its exploration reveals fundamental new insights about how numerical information is represented.

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Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 44 , 2021 , e202
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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