Visual sense of number vs. sense of magnitude in humans and machines

Abstract Numerosity perception is thought to be foundational to mathematical learning, but its computational bases are strongly debated. Some investigators argue that humans are endowed with a specialized system supporting numerical representations; others argue that visual numerosity is estimated u...

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Autores principales:	Alberto Testolin, Serena Dolfi, Mathijs Rochus, Marco Zorzi
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2020
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/55aa0b505118401e83a905dcc5901699
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:55aa0b505118401e83a905dcc5901699
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:55aa0b505118401e83a905dcc59016992021-12-02T17:45:21ZVisual sense of number vs. sense of magnitude in humans and machines10.1038/s41598-020-66838-52045-2322https://doaj.org/article/55aa0b505118401e83a905dcc59016992020-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-66838-5https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Numerosity perception is thought to be foundational to mathematical learning, but its computational bases are strongly debated. Some investigators argue that humans are endowed with a specialized system supporting numerical representations; others argue that visual numerosity is estimated using continuous magnitudes, such as density or area, which usually co-vary with number. Here we reconcile these contrasting perspectives by testing deep neural networks on the same numerosity comparison task that was administered to human participants, using a stimulus space that allows the precise measurement of the contribution of non-numerical features. Our model accurately simulates the psychophysics of numerosity perception and the associated developmental changes: discrimination is driven by numerosity, but non-numerical features also have a significant impact, especially early during development. Representational similarity analysis further highlights that both numerosity and continuous magnitudes are spontaneously encoded in deep networks even when no task has to be carried out, suggesting that numerosity is a major, salient property of our visual environment.Alberto TestolinSerena DolfiMathijs RochusMarco ZorziNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Alberto Testolin Serena Dolfi Mathijs Rochus Marco Zorzi Visual sense of number vs. sense of magnitude in humans and machines
description	Abstract Numerosity perception is thought to be foundational to mathematical learning, but its computational bases are strongly debated. Some investigators argue that humans are endowed with a specialized system supporting numerical representations; others argue that visual numerosity is estimated using continuous magnitudes, such as density or area, which usually co-vary with number. Here we reconcile these contrasting perspectives by testing deep neural networks on the same numerosity comparison task that was administered to human participants, using a stimulus space that allows the precise measurement of the contribution of non-numerical features. Our model accurately simulates the psychophysics of numerosity perception and the associated developmental changes: discrimination is driven by numerosity, but non-numerical features also have a significant impact, especially early during development. Representational similarity analysis further highlights that both numerosity and continuous magnitudes are spontaneously encoded in deep networks even when no task has to be carried out, suggesting that numerosity is a major, salient property of our visual environment.
format	article
author	Alberto Testolin Serena Dolfi Mathijs Rochus Marco Zorzi
author_facet	Alberto Testolin Serena Dolfi Mathijs Rochus Marco Zorzi
author_sort	Alberto Testolin
title	Visual sense of number vs. sense of magnitude in humans and machines
title_short	Visual sense of number vs. sense of magnitude in humans and machines
title_full	Visual sense of number vs. sense of magnitude in humans and machines
title_fullStr	Visual sense of number vs. sense of magnitude in humans and machines
title_full_unstemmed	Visual sense of number vs. sense of magnitude in humans and machines
title_sort	visual sense of number vs. sense of magnitude in humans and machines
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/55aa0b505118401e83a905dcc5901699
work_keys_str_mv	AT albertotestolin visualsenseofnumbervssenseofmagnitudeinhumansandmachines AT serenadolfi visualsenseofnumbervssenseofmagnitudeinhumansandmachines AT mathijsrochus visualsenseofnumbervssenseofmagnitudeinhumansandmachines AT marcozorzi visualsenseofnumbervssenseofmagnitudeinhumansandmachines
_version_	1718379586533720064

Visual sense of number vs. sense of magnitude in humans and machines

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