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Area, not number, dominates estimates of visual quantities
The study of numerical estimation collectively spans hundreds of papers and hundreds of thousands of citations. Interest in this topic hinges on one assumption: that we can approximate number independently of continuous spatial dimensions (e.g., area). Accordingly, many studies have specifically tri...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Nature Publishing Group UK
2020
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7414215/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32770093 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68593-z |
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author | Yousif, Sami R. Keil, Frank C. |
author_facet | Yousif, Sami R. Keil, Frank C. |
author_sort | Yousif, Sami R. |
collection | PubMed |
description | The study of numerical estimation collectively spans hundreds of papers and hundreds of thousands of citations. Interest in this topic hinges on one assumption: that we can approximate number independently of continuous spatial dimensions (e.g., area). Accordingly, many studies have specifically tried to demonstrate sensitivity specific to number while controlling other dimensions. However, recent work demonstrates that perceived area (based on psychophysical judgments) differs from true area (i.e., a precise pixel count). This difference raises concerns about most past studies of approximate number, by asking if they have systematically controlled for the wrong dimension(s). Building on recent findings that the percept of area may be systematically illusory, the current study examines the relation between perceived area and number. Four experiments reveal that (1) perceived area, but not mathematical area, strongly influences numerosity judgments, (2) perceived area influences perceived number but not the reverse, (3) number acuity is greatly reduced in stimuli controlled for perceived area, and (4) the ability to make area discriminations on the basis of ‘additive area’ but not mathematical area predicts number discrimination ability. Together, these findings highlight a potentially serious confound in prior work, raising new theoretical and methodological challenges for the field. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7414215 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | Nature Publishing Group UK |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-74142152020-08-11 Area, not number, dominates estimates of visual quantities Yousif, Sami R. Keil, Frank C. Sci Rep Article The study of numerical estimation collectively spans hundreds of papers and hundreds of thousands of citations. Interest in this topic hinges on one assumption: that we can approximate number independently of continuous spatial dimensions (e.g., area). Accordingly, many studies have specifically tried to demonstrate sensitivity specific to number while controlling other dimensions. However, recent work demonstrates that perceived area (based on psychophysical judgments) differs from true area (i.e., a precise pixel count). This difference raises concerns about most past studies of approximate number, by asking if they have systematically controlled for the wrong dimension(s). Building on recent findings that the percept of area may be systematically illusory, the current study examines the relation between perceived area and number. Four experiments reveal that (1) perceived area, but not mathematical area, strongly influences numerosity judgments, (2) perceived area influences perceived number but not the reverse, (3) number acuity is greatly reduced in stimuli controlled for perceived area, and (4) the ability to make area discriminations on the basis of ‘additive area’ but not mathematical area predicts number discrimination ability. Together, these findings highlight a potentially serious confound in prior work, raising new theoretical and methodological challenges for the field. Nature Publishing Group UK 2020-08-07 /pmc/articles/PMC7414215/ /pubmed/32770093 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68593-z Text en © The Author(s) 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
spellingShingle | Article Yousif, Sami R. Keil, Frank C. Area, not number, dominates estimates of visual quantities |
title | Area, not number, dominates estimates of visual quantities |
title_full | Area, not number, dominates estimates of visual quantities |
title_fullStr | Area, not number, dominates estimates of visual quantities |
title_full_unstemmed | Area, not number, dominates estimates of visual quantities |
title_short | Area, not number, dominates estimates of visual quantities |
title_sort | area, not number, dominates estimates of visual quantities |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7414215/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32770093 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68593-z |
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