The Representation of Number in Infancy

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

The broad goal of this proposal is to gain a deeper understanding of the adult human mathematical mind by studying its development in infancy. A major goal is to test the hypothesis that infants rely on analog magnitude representations of number similar to those used by adults, young children, and non-human animals. Previous studies suggest that infants may rely on two distinct systems for representing number; an object-file system for representing small values and an analog magnitude mechanism for representing large numerical values. This hypothesis will be tested by studying the psychophysics of number discrimination over a wide range of numerical values, testing whether infants are sensitive to ordinal relations between numerosities, and taking the first step to determine whether the enumeration process(es) that infants use involves serial or parallel processing. The proposed experiments will use the time that infants look at various displays and the location of infants. eye movements as dependent measures. The results of the proposed studies should provide a strong foundation for the development of a coherent model of the development of non-verbal numerical representations and will contribute to the principal investigator.s long-term goal of studying both the evolution and the development of numerical cognition.