The perception of quantity ain't number: Missing the primacy of symbolic 
reference

Núñez, Rafael E.; d'Errico, Francesco; Gray, Russell D.; Bender, Andrea

doi:10.1017/S0140525X21001023

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The perception of quantity ain't number: Missing the primacy of symbolic reference

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Gray, Russell D.
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

Núñez, R. E., d'Errico, F., Gray, R. D., & Bender, A. (2021). The perception of quantity ain't number: Missing the primacy of symbolic reference. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 44: e199. doi:10.1017/S0140525X21001023.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0009-B191-A

Abstract

Clarke and Beck's defense of the theoretical construct “approximate number system” (ANS) is flawed in serious ways – from biological misconceptions to mathematical naïveté. The authors misunderstand behavioral/psychological technical concepts, such as numerosity and quantical cognition, which they disdain as “exotic.” Additionally, their characterization of rational numbers is blind to the essential role of symbolic reference in the emergence of number.