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Natural number| old_uid | 7141 |
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| title | Natural number |
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| start_date | 2009/06/10 |
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| schedule | 14h-16h |
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| online | no |
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| location_info | salle des actes |
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| summary | The system of natural number concepts has two striking characteristics: it is extremely simple, and it is extremely rare in the living world. Although all living creatures must be sensitive to quantity in order to forage, budget their time, and navigate the social world, only humans represent exact cardinal values and both determine and operate on those values through an iterative counting process. Studies of non-human animals, human infants, and human adults in diverse cultures provide evidence that this ability depends on two core systems that humans share with other animals: a system for representing individuals in parallel, and a system for representing approximate numerical magnitudes. These systems are unrelated to one another in animals and infants, but they are productively combined as children learn number words and counting. Studies of adults in remote cultures, and of adults lacking conventional language input, provide evidence that language plays a central role in the construction of natural number concepts. Further studies of children and adults provide evidence that both language and core number systems remain at the foundations of our mature natural number concepts. I consider how natural language might play this integrative role. |
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| oncancel | Attention lieu |
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| responsibles | Lesguillons |
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