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Updated: Mar 27, 2026
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Multimedia Battery for Assessment of Cognitive and Basic Skills in Mathematics BM-PROMA
Published on: August 28, 2021
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It all adds up …. Or does it? Numbers, mathematics and purpose.
1Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, England, United Kingdom.
Summary
Animals possess numerosity, the ability to assess numerical magnitudes, but lack abstract mathematical understanding. Bridging this gap requires understanding language and consciousness, not just sensory processes.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Comparative Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Numerosity, the ability to assess numerical magnitudes, is present in many animals, including invertebrates and primates.
- This capacity is thought to confer adaptive advantages, influencing behaviors like social decision-making.
- A widely held assumption links animal numerosity to mathematical abilities, consistent with evolutionary principles.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the distinction between animal numerosity and human mathematical cognition.
- To explore the mechanisms underlying the human capacity for abstract mathematics.
- To propose that understanding language and consciousness is key to explaining mathematical abilities.
Main Methods:
- The study reviews existing research on animal numerosity and psychophysical principles (e.g., Weber-Fechner law).
- It contrasts sensory-based numerosity with abstract mathematical processing.
- The concept of supramodality is examined in relation to the human-animal cognitive divide.
Main Results:
- Animal numerosity relies on sensory processes and psychophysical laws, unlike abstract mathematics.
- The mechanisms enabling human mathematical thought, language, and consciousness remain largely unexplained.
- A significant cognitive gap exists between assessing numerical quantities and engaging in abstract mathematical reasoning.
Conclusions:
- The link between animal numerosity and human mathematics is not seamless.
- Resolving the opacity of human mathematical abilities necessitates understanding language and consciousness.
- Purposeful engagement with the world, both tangible and intangible, may be fundamental to higher cognition.
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