Synonyms
Numerical reasoning; Quantitative reasoning
Definition
Mathematical reasoning is the mathematical methodology of axiomatic reasoning, logical deduction, and formal inference.
Current Knowledge
Research in evolutionary genetics and neuroscience suggests important neurological differences between mathematical capacities that are evolutionary primitive (e.g., counting) and those (e.g., arithmetic) that are more culturally taught (Geary 1995). Empirical data demonstrate that mathematical reasoning and language are functionally and neuroanatomically independent, suggesting (a) there is a common and domain-general syntactic mechanism that underpins both language and mathematics, but that mathematical expressions can gain direct access to this system without translation into a language format, and (b) autonomous, domain-specific syntactic mechanisms exist for language and mathematics (Varley et al. 2005). Studies on sex differences provide evidence that mathematical reasoning...
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References and Readings
Geary, D. C. (1995). Reflections on evolution and culture in children’s cognition: Implications for mathematical development and instruction. American Psychologist, 50(1), 24–37.
Spelke, E. (2005). Sex differences in intrinsic aptitude for mathematics and science? American Psychologist, 60(9), 950–958.
Varley, R. A., Klessinger, N. J. C., Romanowski, C. A. J., & Siegal, M. (2005). Agrammatic but numerate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America, 102, 3519–3524.
Zhou, Z. (2011). Mathematical reasoning. In J. S. Kreutzer, J. Deluca, & B. Caplan (Eds.), Encyclopedia of clinical neuropsychology. New York: Springer.
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Zhou, J., Sands, R. (2018). Arithmetic Reasoning. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1434
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1434
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