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Perceived number is not abstract

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2021

Lauren S. Aulet
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA30322, USA. [email protected] [email protected]
Stella F. Lourenco
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA30322, USA. [email protected] [email protected]

Abstract

To support the claim that the approximate number system (ANS) represents rational numbers, Clarke and Beck (C&B) argue that number perception is abstract and characterized by a second-order character. However, converging evidence from visual illusions and psychophysics suggests that perceived number is not abstract, but rather, is perceptually interdependent with other magnitudes. Moreover, number, as a concept, is second-order, but number, as a percept, is not.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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