2009/06/11 by Véronique Izard, Coralie Sann, Elizabeth S. Spelke +1 · 3 citations
Mathematics · Psychology · #Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills #Child and Animal Learning Development #Reading and Literacy Development #Basis (linear algebra) #Communication #Computer science #Psychology #Biology #Mathematics #Geometry
paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.0812142106
openalex publication_date 2009/06/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Although infants and animals respond to the approximate number of elements in visual, auditory, and tactile arrays, only human children and adults have been shown to possess abstract numerical representations that apply to entities of all kinds (e.g., 7 samurai, seas, or sins). Do abstract numerical concepts depend on language or culture, or do they form a part of humans' innate, core knowledge? Here we show that newborn infants spontaneously associate stationary, visual-spatial arrays of 4-18 objects with auditory sequences of events on the basis of number. Their performance provides evidence for abstract numerical representations at the start of postnatal experience.