Perceived number is not abstract

Behav Brain Sci. 2021 Dec 15:44:e179. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X21001102.

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.

Publication types

  • Comment

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Optical Illusions*
  • Psychophysics