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Related Concept Videos

How Data are Classified: Numerical Data00:59

How Data are Classified: Numerical Data

Data that are countable or measurable in specific units are called numerical or quantitative data. Quantitative data are always numbers. Quantitative data are the result of counting or measuring the attributes of a population. Amount of money, pulse rate, weight, number of people living in a town, and number of students who opt for statistics are examples of quantitative data.
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Related Experiment Videos

Number without a language model.

Elizabet Spaepen1, Marie Coppola, Elizabeth S Spelke

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, IL 60637, USA. liesje@uchicago.edu

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|February 9, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Individuals without conventional language, even in a numerate society, do not spontaneously develop exact large number representations. Homesigners can communicate about numbers but struggle with quantities greater than three.

Related Experiment Videos

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Linguistics

Background:

  • Conventional number language is thought to be crucial for developing large exact number representations.
  • Previous studies are confounded by cultural differences between language users and non-users.
  • Deaf individuals without access to conventional language provide a unique opportunity to study number development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the numerical abilities of deaf individuals lacking conventional language but living in a numerate culture.
  • To determine if homesigners spontaneously develop representations of large exact numerosities.
  • To isolate the effect of language on number representation development.

Main Methods:

  • Studied deaf individuals in Nicaragua who developed homesigns without conventional language input.
  • Assessed their ability to communicate number using gestures.
  • Examined their performance in tasks involving finger extension and set matching for quantities up to and beyond three.

Main Results:

  • Homesigners use gestures to communicate numerical information.
  • They do not consistently use the correct number of fingers for quantities greater than three.
  • Accurate matching of set numerosities greater than three was not consistently observed.

Conclusions:

  • Lack of conventional language input prevents the spontaneous development of large exact number representations, even within a numerate society.
  • Homesigners' numerical abilities are limited, suggesting language is essential for abstract numerical concepts.
  • This study highlights the critical role of linguistic input in cognitive development of number.