Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) spontaneously compute addition operations over large numbers
Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) spontaneously compute addition operations over large numbers
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DOI：
10.1016/j.cognition.2004.09.004
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发表时间：
2005-10-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.4
通讯作者：
Hauser, MD
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Flombaum, JI;Junge, JA;Hauser, MD
数学是人类独有的能力。然而，对动物和人类婴儿的研究表明，这种能力建立在与语言无关的机制上，用于精确地量化小数（< 4）和近似地量化大数。目前尚不清楚动物和人类婴儿是否能够自发地利用量化大数的机制来计算数学运算。此外，所有关于非人类动物加法运算的可用工作都将数与与数相关的连续感知特性（例如体积，轮廓长度）混淆起来。这项研究表明，恒河猴会自发地计算大数的加法运算，而不是连续范围，而且这种能力的极限是由两个数之间的比率差而不是绝对差来决定的。(c) 2004 Elsevier B.V.版权所有
Mathematics is a uniquely human capacity. Studies of animals and human infants reveal, however, that this capacity builds on language-independent mechanisms for quantifying small numbers (< 4) precisely and large numbers approximately. It is unclear whether animals and human infants can spontaneously tap mechanisms for quantifying large numbers to compute mathematical operations. Moreover, all available work on addition operations in non-human animals has confounded number with continuous perceptual properties (e.g. volume, contour length) that correlate with number. This study shows that rhesus monkeys spontaneously compute addition operations over large numbers, as opposed to continuous extents, and that the limit on this ability is set by the ratio difference between two numbers as opposed to their absolute difference. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.