Work

The making of number: from content to representation

Year: 2026

Type: review

Abstract: Despite their importance to human thought, the origins of numerical abilities remain debated. Numerical quantity is a property of physical objects and events, and both humans and many animals show an innate sensitivity to this numerical content. Yet how this content is represented is a separate question: it may be encoded nonsymbolically by an innate estimation system or symbolically through culturally developed formats, such as numeral notations and number words. Distinguishing content from representational format reconciles the views that numbers are innate (nativism), learned (empiricism), or constructed (emergentism). Converging evidence from developmental psychology, comparative cognition, neuroscience, and computation suggests that number is dynamically coconstructed by biological predispositions and cultural practices, a framework that generalizes to other domains of human cognition, such as geometry and language.

Source: Trends in Cognitive Sciences

DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2025.12.011

Author: Andreas Nieder

Institution: University of Tübingen

Language: English

Topic: Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills

Subfield: Statistics and Probability

Field: Mathematics

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $7,030

Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft