Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Numerical cognition
open-in-new
<p>Numerical cognition is a subdiscipline of <a href="/facts/Cognitive_science/8qoggl7r">cognitive science</a> that studies the cognitive, developmental and neural bases of <a href="/facts/Number/auQSAE2m">numbers</a> and <a href="/facts/Mathematics/pxTouaz4">mathematics</a>. As with many cognitive science endeavors, this is a highly interdisciplinary topic, and includes researchers in <a href="/facts/Cognitive_psychology/GnzIgx2I">cognitive psychology</a>, <a href="/facts/Developmental_psychology/Myy826TQ">developmental psychology</a>, <a href="/facts/Neuroscience/o5RV8Cas">neuroscience</a> and <a href="/facts/Cognitive_linguistics/Qu4DApFf">cognitive linguistics</a>. This discipline, although it may interact with questions in the <a href="/facts/Philosophy_of_mathematics/z7xBcdWA">philosophy of mathematics</a>, is primarily concerned with <a href="/facts/Empirical/JUaYSGJc">empirical</a> questions. </p><p>Topics included in the domain of numerical cognition include: </p> <ul><li>How do <a href="/facts/Number_sense_in_animals/vvPgA5Nt">non-human animals process numerosity</a>?</li> <li>How do infants acquire an understanding of numbers (and how much is inborn)?</li> <li>How do humans associate linguistic symbols with numerical quantities?</li> <li>How do these capacities underlie our ability to perform complex calculations?</li> <li>What are the neural bases of these abilities, both in humans and in non-humans?</li> <li>What metaphorical capacities and processes allow us to extend our numerical understanding into complex domains such as the concept of <a href="/facts/Infinity/cF506uD7">infinity</a>, the <a href="/facts/Infinitesimal/JKcTMIgD">infinitesimal</a> or the concept of the <a href="/facts/Limit_(mathematics)/j8JBhj4e">limit</a> in calculus?</li> <li>Heuristics in numerical cognition</li></ul>