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Approximate Number System (ANS)

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Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

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Synonyms

Core number system; Numerical cognition; Numerosity

Definition

The approximate number system (ANS) is a core cognitive system of numerical processing that governs animal and human nonsymbolic numerical representations. Weber’s law underlies the ANS, in which performance in discriminating set sizes increases as the ratio between sets also increases.

Introduction

The ability to perceive, discriminate, store, and represent numerical information supports a host of everyday human behaviors and makes possible engineering feats that drive many of our technological innovations. Of relevance to the current chapter, engineers, astronauts, banking institutions, store clerks, and elementary math students base their simplest and more complicated calculations and numerical processing on a core system of number that is shared among human individuals as well as across a wide range of nonhuman species. Nonhuman animals (hereafter animals) also are sensitive to the quantitative and numerical...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The Citadel, Charleston, SC, USA

    Audrey E. Parrish

  2. Department of Psychology & Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Michael J. Beran

Authors
  1. Audrey E. Parrish
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  2. Michael J. Beran
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Audrey E. Parrish .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University , Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Jennifer Vonk

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University Department of Psychology, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Southern Oregon University, 97520, Ashland, OR, USA

    Mark A. Krause

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Parrish, A.E., Beran, M.J. (2017). Approximate Number System (ANS). In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1068-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1068-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

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