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To understand the number sense, we need to understand its function. We argue that numerosity estimation is fundamental not only for perception, but also preparation and control of action. We outline experiments that link numerosity estimation with action, pointing to a generalized numerosity system that serves both perception and action preparation.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X21000996 | DOI Listing |
Cogn Psychol
September 2025
Laboratoire Cognition Langage et Développement, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
The mechanisms underlying numerosity perception remain debated, with some theories proposing a dedicated system for segmented items and others suggesting reliance on low-level features like spatial-frequency or texture-density. Numerosity adaptation-where exposure to one array alters the perceived numerosity of a subsequent one-has been interpreted as evidence for a numerosity-specific mechanism. However, recent accounts argue that this effect may result from filtering previously processed information.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeural Comput
August 2025
Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, INSERM, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Number sense, the ability to rapidly estimate object quantities in a visual scene without precise counting, is a crucial cognitive capacity found in humans and many other animals. Recent studies have identified artificial neurons tuned to numbers of items in biologically inspired vision models, even before training, and proposed these artificial neural networks as candidate models for the emergence of number sense in the brain. But real-world numerosity perception requires abstraction from the properties of individual objects and their contexts, unlike the simplified dot patterns used in previous studies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAtten Percept Psychophys
August 2025
School of Teacher Education, Dali University, Dali, China.
The connectedness effect is the tendency to perceive connected items as fewer units, such as two connected dots seen as one. It commonly occurs with intermediate numerosity perception alongside the activity of the approximate number system (ANS), indicating that intermediate quantities are perceived as discrete units rather than continuous magnitudes. The present study explored how this effect influences the enumeration of small numerosities (fewer than 5), which are accurately assessed through a mechanism known as subitizing under normal conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychol Rev
July 2025
Department of Psychology, Ohio State University.
Two leading models of numerosity judgments describe numerical representations as Gaussian distributions on a mental number line. The linear model posits that both the mean and standard deviation of the distributions increase linearly with number, while the logarithmic model assumes logarithmic increases in the mean with constant variability. In this study, we use the selective sampling account, which proposes that information is gathered selectively based on goals and available resources, to explore the cognitive processes underlying variations in variability and scaling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAtten Percept Psychophys
October 2025
College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University, Sturt Road, Bedford Park, SA, 5042, Australia.
Previous research has shown that people tend to display attentional biases toward faces with strong emotions within crowds, often overestimating the extremity of the average emotional expression. However, this emotional amplification effect has not been consistently observed in tasks where observers summarize other crowd features, such as the number of faces. This study aims to explore the attentional mechanisms underlying these inconsistent findings.
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