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      Impact of High Mathematics Education on the Number Sense

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      PLoS ONE
      Public Library of Science

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          Abstract

          In adult number processing two mechanisms are commonly used: approximate estimation of quantity and exact calculation. While the former relies on the approximate number sense (ANS) which we share with animals and preverbal infants, the latter has been proposed to rely on an exact number system (ENS) which develops later in life following the acquisition of symbolic number knowledge. The current study investigated the influence of high level math education on the ANS and the ENS. Our results showed that the precision of non-symbolic quantity representation was not significantly altered by high level math education. However, performance in a symbolic number comparison task as well as the ability to map accurately between symbolic and non-symbolic quantities was significantly better the higher mathematics achievement. Our findings suggest that high level math education in adults shows little influence on their ANS, but it seems to be associated with a better anchored ENS and better mapping abilities between ENS and ANS.

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          Most cited references84

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          Core knowledge.

          Human cognition is founded, in part, on four systems for representing objects, actions, number, and space. It may be based, as well, on a fifth system for representing social partners. Each system has deep roots in human phylogeny and ontogeny, and it guides and shapes the mental lives of adults. Converging research on human infants, non-human primates, children and adults in diverse cultures can aid both understanding of these systems and attempts to overcome their limits.
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            The Origin of Concepts

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              A magnitude code common to numerosities and number symbols in human intraparietal cortex.

              Activation of the horizontal segment of the intraparietal sulcus (hIPS) has been observed in various number-processing tasks, whether numbers were conveyed by symbolic numerals (digits, number words) or by nonsymbolic displays (dot patterns). This suggests an abstract coding of numerical magnitude. Here, we critically tested this hypothesis using fMRI adaptation to demonstrate notation-independent coding of numerical quantity in the hIPS. Once subjects were adapted either to dot patterns or to Arabic digits, activation in the hIPS and in frontal regions recovered in a distance-dependent fashion whenever a new number was presented, irrespective of notation changes. This remained unchanged when analyzing the hIPS peaks from an independent localizer scan of mental calculation. These results suggest an abstract coding of approximate number common to dots, digits, and number words. They support the idea that symbols acquire meaning by linking neural populations coding symbol shapes to those holding nonsymbolic representations of quantities.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: Editor
                Journal
                PLoS One
                PLoS ONE
                plos
                plosone
                PLoS ONE
                Public Library of Science (San Francisco, USA )
                1932-6203
                2012
                25 April 2012
                : 7
                : 4
                : e33832
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Psychology, University of Hull, Hull, United Kingdom
                [2 ]Department of Psychology, University of York, York, United Kingdom
                Cuban Neuroscience Center, Cuba
                Author notes

                Conceived and designed the experiments: JC SG. Performed the experiments: JC. Analyzed the data: JC SG. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: JC SG. Wrote the paper: JC.

                Article
                PONE-D-11-11307
                10.1371/journal.pone.0033832
                3338810
                22558077
                6f765e8e-dfa2-4169-9605-e4dc02521e78
                Castronovo, Göbel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
                History
                : 21 June 2011
                : 21 February 2012
                Page count
                Pages: 16
                Categories
                Research Article
                Biology
                Neuroscience
                Cognitive Neuroscience
                Cognition
                Mathematics
                Medicine
                Mental Health
                Psychology
                Cognitive Psychology
                Human Intelligence
                Learning
                Reasoning
                Developmental Psychology
                Social and Behavioral Sciences
                Psychology
                Cognitive Psychology
                Human Intelligence
                Learning
                Reasoning
                Developmental Psychology

                Uncategorized
                Uncategorized

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