Infants Show Ratio-dependent Number Discrimination Regardless of Set Size

Infancy : the Official Journal of the International Society on Infant Studies
Ariel B StarrElizabeth M Brannon

Abstract

Evidence for approximate number system (ANS) representations in infancy is robust but has typically only been found when infants are presented with arrays of four or more elements. In addition, several studies have found that infants fail to discriminate between small numbers when continuous variables such as surface area and contour length are controlled. These findings suggest that under some circumstances, infants fail to recruit either the ANS or object file representations for small sets. Here, we used a numerical change detection paradigm to assess 6-month-old infants' ability to represent small values. In Experiment 1, infants were tested with 1 versus 3, 1 versus 2, and 2 versus 3 dots. Infants successfully discriminated 1 versus 3 and 1 versus 2, but failed with 2 versus 3. In Experiment 2, we tested whether infants could compare small and large values with a 2 versus 4 condition. Across both experiments, infants' performance exhibited ratio dependence, the hallmark of the ANS. Our results indicate that infants can attend to the purely numerical attributes of small sets and that the numerical change detection paradigm accesses ANS representations in infancy regardless of set size.

References

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Citations

Oct 9, 2015·Neuron·G Dehaene-Lambertz, E S Spelke
Jan 21, 2015·Developmental Science·Lisa CantrellLinda B Smith
Dec 3, 2014·Journal of Experimental Child Psychology·Lisa CantrellLinda B Smith
Jul 13, 2016·Experimental Psychology·Xinlin ZhouJiaxin Cui
Jan 30, 2018·The British Journal of Developmental Psychology·Monica G NavarroMelissa E Libertus
Jan 15, 2019·Experimental Psychology·Bert ReynvoetAvishai Henik
Jan 25, 2019·Developmental Science·Elisa Di GiorgioFrancesca Simion
Mar 23, 2017·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Elliot CollinsMarlene Behrmann
Sep 16, 2020·Nature Human Behaviour·Samuel J Cheyette, Steven T Piantadosi
Oct 3, 2017·Infancy : the Official Journal of the International Society on Infant Studies·Lisa M Oakes

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