Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27530053›Full record

ReviewThe Behavioral and brain sciences2017

From "sense of number" to "sense of magnitude": The role of continuous magnitudes in numerical cognition.

Tali Leibovich, Naama Katzin, Maayan Harel, Avishai Henik

Abstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in The Behavioral and brain sciences, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 166 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
166citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

166 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
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  7. Discerning Quantity: Numerosity in Two Embodied Machine Learning Agents.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
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  10. Review
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  16. Part-whole effects in visual number estimation.Attention, perception & psychophysics · 2026
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

106 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Tali LeibovichDepartment of Psychology and Brain and Mind Institute,The University of Western Ontario,London,Ontario N6A 3K7,Canada;Department of Psychology,Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,Beer-Sheva 8499000,Israel;The Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience,Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,Beer-Sheva 8499000,Israel.tleibovi@uwo.cahttp://www.numericalcognition.org/people.html.
Naama KatzinDepartment of Psychology,Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,Beer-Sheva 8410501,Israel.naamaka@post.bgu.ac.ilhttp://in.bgu.ac.il/en/Labs/CNL/Pages/staff/naamaka.aspx.
Maayan HarelDepartment of Life Science,Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,Beer-Sheva 8410501,Israel.hmaay@post.bgu.ac.ilhttp://lifeserv.bgu.ac.il/wp/azangen/index.php/personnel-2/maayan-harel/.
Avishai HenikDepartment of Psychology,Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,Beer-Sheva 8410501,Israel;The Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience,Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,Beer-Sheva 8410501,Israel.Henik@bgu.ac.ilhttp://in.bgu.ac.il/en/Labs/CNL/Pages/staff/AvishaiHenik.aspx.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In this review, we are pitting two theories against each other: the more accepted theory, the number sense theory, suggesting that a sense of number is innate and non-symbolic numerosity is being processed independently of continuous magnitudes (e.g., size, area, and density); and the newly emerging theory suggesting that (1) both numerosities and continuous magnitudes are processed holistically when comparing numerosities and (2) a sense of number might not be innate. In the first part of this review, we discuss the number sense theory. Against this background, we demonstrate how the natural correlation between numerosities and continuous magnitudes makes it nearly impossible to study non-symbolic numerosity processing in isolation from continuous magnitudes, and therefore, the results of behavioral and imaging studies with infants, adults, and animals can be explained, at least in part, by relying on continuous magnitudes. In the second part, we explain the sense of magnitude theory and review studies that directly demonstrate that continuous magnitudes are more automatic and basic than numerosities. Finally, we present outstanding questions. Our conclusion is that there is not enough convincing evidence to support the number sense theory anymore. Therefore, we encourage researchers not to assume that number sense is simply innate, but to put this hypothesis to the test and consider whether such an assumption is even testable in the light of the correlation of numerosity and continuous magnitudes.

Indexed as

Mathematical ConceptsAnimalsCognitionComprehensionHumansMathematicsModels, TheoreticalVisual Perceptionanimal studiescognitive controlcontinuous magnitudesfunctional studiesholistic processingnumber sensenumerical cognitionnumerosities

Identifiers

PMID27530053

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.