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Spontaneous perception of numerosity in humans

Author

Listed:
  • Guido Marco Cicchini

    (Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council)

  • Giovanni Anobile

    (Psychology, Pharmacology and Child Health, University of Florence
    Stella Maris Scientific Institute)

  • David C. Burr

    (Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council
    Psychology, Pharmacology and Child Health, University of Florence
    School of Psychology, University of Western Australia)

Abstract

Humans, including infants, and many other species have a capacity for rapid, nonverbal estimation of numerosity. However, the mechanisms for number perception are still not clear; some maintain that the system calculates numerosity via density estimates—similar to those involved in texture—while others maintain that more direct, dedicated mechanisms are involved. Here we show that provided that items are not packed too densely, human subjects are far more sensitive to numerosity than to either density or area. In a two-dimensional space spanning density, area and numerosity, subjects spontaneously react with far greater sensitivity to changes in numerosity, than either area or density. Even in tasks where they were explicitly instructed to make density or area judgments, they responded spontaneously to number. We conclude, that humans extract number information, directly and spontaneously, via dedicated mechanisms.

Suggested Citation

  • Guido Marco Cicchini & Giovanni Anobile & David C. Burr, 2016. "Spontaneous perception of numerosity in humans," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-7, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms12536
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12536
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    Cited by:

    1. Elisa Castaldi & Antonella Pomè & Guido Marco Cicchini & David Burr & Paola Binda, 2021. "The pupil responds spontaneously to perceived numerosity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Jacob M. Paul & Martijn Ackooij & Tuomas C. Cate & Ben M. Harvey, 2022. "Numerosity tuning in human association cortices and local image contrast representations in early visual cortex," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Sébastien Czajko & Alexandre Vignaud & Evelyn Eger, 2024. "Human brain representations of internally generated outcomes of approximate calculation revealed by ultra-high-field brain imaging," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.

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