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Multitudes are adaptable magnitudes in the estimation of number

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2017

Frank H. Durgin
Frank H. Durgin*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA [email protected]://www.swarthmore.edu/profile/frank-durgin
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Abstract

Visual number comparison does not require participants to choose a unit, whereas units are fundamental to the definition of number. Studies using magnitude estimation rather than comparison show that number perception is compressed dramatically past about 20 units. Even estimates of 5–20 items are increasingly susceptible to effects of visual adaptation, suggesting a rather narrow range in which subitizing-like categorization processes blend into greater reliance on adaptable magnitude information.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 40 , 2017 , e170
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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