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Exact Equality and Successor Function: Two Key Concepts on the Path towards Understanding Exact Numbers
- DOI:
- 10.1080/09515080802285354
pages 491-505
Available online: 02 Sep 2008Abstract
Humans possess two nonverbal systems capable of representing numbers, both limited in their representational power: the first one represents numbers in an approximate fashion, and the second one conveys information about small numbers only. Conception of exact large numbers has therefore been thought to arise from the manipulation of exact numerical symbols. Here, we focus on two fundamental properties of the exact numbers as prerequisites to the concept of EXACT NUMBERS: the fact that all numbers can be generated by a successor function and the fact that equality between numbers can be defined in an exact fashion. We discuss some recent findings assessing how speakers of Mundurucú (an Amazonian language), and young Western children (3–4 years old) understand these fundamental properties of numbers.
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- Citation information:
- Available online: 02 Sep 2008
Author biographies
Véronique Izard is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Pierre Pica is ćhargé de recherché at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (National Center for Scientific Research). Elizabeth S. Spelke is a Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Harvard Univeristy. Stanislas Dechaene is Professor at the Collège de France, Chair of Experimental Cognitive Psychology, INSERM-CEA Cognitive Neuroimdging Unit.
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