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SUMMARY:The interplay between non-symbolic number and its continuous visua
 l properties. - Titita Gebuis\, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven\, Belgium
DTSTART:20111129T140000Z
DTEND:20111129T160000Z
UID:TALK34529@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Nichola Daily
DESCRIPTION:%{color:red}ABSTRACT%: The number of studies investigating the
  neural mechanisms underlying non-symbolic number processes increased dras
 tically in the past years. On the basis of these studies it has been concl
 uded that we are equipped with an approximate number system\, a mechanism 
 that allows us to process number independent of its continuous visual prop
 erties (e.g. diameter\, contour length\, etc). Most of these studies howev
 er focused on the higher order stages of numerosity processing while littl
 e attention was devoted to the preceding visual processes. This is unexpec
 ted\, as non-symbolic number is defined by its visual characteristics. Whe
 n these are the same between two sets of items\, number is also the same. 
 Similarly\, when number changes\, its visual characteristics change accord
 ingly. In daily life\, number and visual cues are highly correlated (e.g. 
 when you add more apples to a bag of apples\, continuous visual properties
  will increase). This relation is unlikely to be violated. Consequently\, 
 it would be very efficient to rely on these continuous visual variables to
  judge number. In my talk I will pitch the theory of the approximate numbe
 r system against the theory of visual properties. Using data from behavior
 al and EEG studies I will show caveats in the designs used to study number
  processing and argue that it is unlikely that we are equipped with a mech
 anism that allows us to extract number from a visual scene independent of 
 its visual properties. Indeed\, I will propose that non-symbolic number is
  the result of the integration of different visual variables. 
LOCATION:Department of Experimental Psychology\, 2nd Floor Seminar Room\, 
 Downing Site
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