Basic math in monkeys and college students.
Adult humans possess a sophisticated repertoire of mathematical faculties. Many of these capacities are rooted in symbolic language and are therefore unlikely to be shared with nonhuman animals. However, a subset of these skills is shared with other animals, and this set is considered a cognitive ve...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2007-12-01
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| Series: | PLoS Biology |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2140091?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818438151036731392 |
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| author | Jessica F Cantlon Elizabeth M Brannon |
| author_facet | Jessica F Cantlon Elizabeth M Brannon |
| author_sort | Jessica F Cantlon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Adult humans possess a sophisticated repertoire of mathematical faculties. Many of these capacities are rooted in symbolic language and are therefore unlikely to be shared with nonhuman animals. However, a subset of these skills is shared with other animals, and this set is considered a cognitive vestige of our common evolutionary history. Current evidence indicates that humans and nonhuman animals share a core set of abilities for representing and comparing approximate numerosities nonverbally; however, it remains unclear whether nonhuman animals can perform approximate mental arithmetic. Here we show that monkeys can mentally add the numerical values of two sets of objects and choose a visual array that roughly corresponds to the arithmetic sum of these two sets. Furthermore, monkeys' performance during these calculations adheres to the same pattern as humans tested on the same nonverbal addition task. Our data demonstrate that nonverbal arithmetic is not unique to humans but is instead part of an evolutionarily primitive system for mathematical thinking shared by monkeys. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T17:36:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-96090e9212c54d5d84ccbe420e79c0d9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1544-9173 1545-7885 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T17:36:00Z |
| publishDate | 2007-12-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-96090e9212c54d5d84ccbe420e79c0d92022-12-21T22:52:58ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Biology1544-91731545-78852007-12-01512e32810.1371/journal.pbio.0050328Basic math in monkeys and college students.Jessica F CantlonElizabeth M BrannonAdult humans possess a sophisticated repertoire of mathematical faculties. Many of these capacities are rooted in symbolic language and are therefore unlikely to be shared with nonhuman animals. However, a subset of these skills is shared with other animals, and this set is considered a cognitive vestige of our common evolutionary history. Current evidence indicates that humans and nonhuman animals share a core set of abilities for representing and comparing approximate numerosities nonverbally; however, it remains unclear whether nonhuman animals can perform approximate mental arithmetic. Here we show that monkeys can mentally add the numerical values of two sets of objects and choose a visual array that roughly corresponds to the arithmetic sum of these two sets. Furthermore, monkeys' performance during these calculations adheres to the same pattern as humans tested on the same nonverbal addition task. Our data demonstrate that nonverbal arithmetic is not unique to humans but is instead part of an evolutionarily primitive system for mathematical thinking shared by monkeys.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2140091?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Jessica F Cantlon Elizabeth M Brannon Basic math in monkeys and college students. PLoS Biology |
| title | Basic math in monkeys and college students. |
| title_full | Basic math in monkeys and college students. |
| title_fullStr | Basic math in monkeys and college students. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Basic math in monkeys and college students. |
| title_short | Basic math in monkeys and college students. |
| title_sort | basic math in monkeys and college students |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2140091?pdf=render |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jessicafcantlon basicmathinmonkeysandcollegestudents AT elizabethmbrannon basicmathinmonkeysandcollegestudents |