OUR ability to think of numbers as abstract concepts seems to be innate. Babies just a few days old are already able to do it.
Abstract numerical thought is the ability to perceive numbers as entities, independently of specific things. It can be demonstrated by humans’ capacity to link a certain number of objects to the same number of sounds, irrespective of what the specific sounds or objects are. But whether this ability is innate or learned – through culture or language – wasn’t known.
To investigate, Véronique Izard of Harvard University and colleagues played babies 4 days old or…
