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Origins of Calculation Abilities

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Historical Development of Human Cognition

Part of the book series: Perspectives in Cultural-Historical Research ((PCHR,volume 3))

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Abstract

The ability to calculate represents a complex cognitive process including verbal, spatial, somatic, memory, and executive functions. The origin of mathematical concepts can be traced to subhuman species. The immediate recognition of certain small quantities without counting – subitizing – is found not only in animals but also in small children. During child development, different stages in the acquisition of numerical knowledge are observed, including global quantification, recognition of small quantities, enumeration, correspondence construction, counting, and finally permutability (arithmetic). Some numerical abilities, such as correspondence construction, probably existed in prehistoric man. In human history, as well as in child development, counting begins with sequencing the fingers; this may be the reason for the frequent use of a decimal system. Written numbers appeared in history before written language. Neuroimaging techniques have demonstrated that different brain areas are active during arithmetical tasks, but the specific pattern of brain activity depends on the particular type of task that is performed. It can be assumed that during human history, the development of new numerical abilities was correlated with the involvement of new brain areas during the performance of progressively more complex numerical tasks. Mediators used in numerical cognition continue evolving with the introduction of new contemporary technologies.

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  1. A previous version of this paper was published in Ardila, A. (2010). On the evolution of calculation abilities. Frontier in Evolutionary Neurosciences, 2, 1–8.

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  1. Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    Alfredo Ardila

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Ardila, A. (2018). Origins of Calculation Abilities. In: Historical Development of Human Cognition. Perspectives in Cultural-Historical Research, vol 3. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6887-4_5

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