Evidence for two numerical systems that are similar in humans and guppies.

<h4>Background</h4>Humans and non-human animals share an approximate non-verbal system for representing and comparing numerosities that has no upper limit and for which accuracy is dependent on the numerical ratio. Current evidence indicates that the mechanism for keeping track of indivi...

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Autores principales:	Christian Agrillo, Laura Piffer, Angelo Bisazza, Brian Butterworth
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/c496778d5c824a6ead3f291f8d82e4b0
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:c496778d5c824a6ead3f291f8d82e4b02021-11-18T07:28:07ZEvidence for two numerical systems that are similar in humans and guppies.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0031923https://doaj.org/article/c496778d5c824a6ead3f291f8d82e4b02012-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/22355405/pdf/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203<h4>Background</h4>Humans and non-human animals share an approximate non-verbal system for representing and comparing numerosities that has no upper limit and for which accuracy is dependent on the numerical ratio. Current evidence indicates that the mechanism for keeping track of individual objects can also be used for numerical purposes; if so, its accuracy will be independent of numerical ratio, but its capacity is limited to the number of items that can be tracked, about four. There is, however, growing controversy as to whether two separate number systems are present in other vertebrate species.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>In this study, we compared the ability of undergraduate students and guppies to discriminate the same numerical ratios, both within and beyond the small number range. In both students and fish the performance was ratio-independent for the numbers 1-4, while it steadily increased with numerical distance when larger numbers were presented.<h4>Conclusions/significance</h4>Our results suggest that two distinct systems underlie quantity discrimination in both humans and fish, implying that the building blocks of uniquely human mathematical abilities may be evolutionarily ancient, dating back to before the divergence of bony fish and tetrapod lineages.Christian AgrilloLaura PifferAngelo BisazzaBrian ButterworthPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 2, p e31923 (2012)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Christian Agrillo Laura Piffer Angelo Bisazza Brian Butterworth Evidence for two numerical systems that are similar in humans and guppies.
description	<h4>Background</h4>Humans and non-human animals share an approximate non-verbal system for representing and comparing numerosities that has no upper limit and for which accuracy is dependent on the numerical ratio. Current evidence indicates that the mechanism for keeping track of individual objects can also be used for numerical purposes; if so, its accuracy will be independent of numerical ratio, but its capacity is limited to the number of items that can be tracked, about four. There is, however, growing controversy as to whether two separate number systems are present in other vertebrate species.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>In this study, we compared the ability of undergraduate students and guppies to discriminate the same numerical ratios, both within and beyond the small number range. In both students and fish the performance was ratio-independent for the numbers 1-4, while it steadily increased with numerical distance when larger numbers were presented.<h4>Conclusions/significance</h4>Our results suggest that two distinct systems underlie quantity discrimination in both humans and fish, implying that the building blocks of uniquely human mathematical abilities may be evolutionarily ancient, dating back to before the divergence of bony fish and tetrapod lineages.
format	article
author	Christian Agrillo Laura Piffer Angelo Bisazza Brian Butterworth
author_facet	Christian Agrillo Laura Piffer Angelo Bisazza Brian Butterworth
author_sort	Christian Agrillo
title	Evidence for two numerical systems that are similar in humans and guppies.
title_short	Evidence for two numerical systems that are similar in humans and guppies.
title_full	Evidence for two numerical systems that are similar in humans and guppies.
title_fullStr	Evidence for two numerical systems that are similar in humans and guppies.
title_full_unstemmed	Evidence for two numerical systems that are similar in humans and guppies.
title_sort	evidence for two numerical systems that are similar in humans and guppies.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2012
url	https://doaj.org/article/c496778d5c824a6ead3f291f8d82e4b0
work_keys_str_mv	AT christianagrillo evidencefortwonumericalsystemsthataresimilarinhumansandguppies AT laurapiffer evidencefortwonumericalsystemsthataresimilarinhumansandguppies AT angelobisazza evidencefortwonumericalsystemsthataresimilarinhumansandguppies AT brianbutterworth evidencefortwonumericalsystemsthataresimilarinhumansandguppies
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Evidence for two numerical systems that are similar in humans and guppies.

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