Study Suggests the Number-Line Concept Is Not Intuitive

An anonymous reader writes "The Yupno people of New Guinea have provided clues to the origins of the number-line concept, and suggest that the familiar concept of time may be cultural as well. From the article: 'Tape measures. Rulers. Graphs. The gas gauge in your car, and the icon on your favorite digital device showing battery power. The number line and its cousins – notations that map numbers onto space and often represent magnitude – are everywhere. Most adults in industrialized societies are so fluent at using the concept, we hardly think about it. We don't stop to wonder: Is it 'natural'? Is it cultural? Now, challenging a mainstream scholarly position that the number-line concept is innate, a study suggests it is learned."

Comments

BASIC Programming, old school

[OakDragon]

Did anyone else think about older versions of interpreted BASIC first?

Re:Did they test males or females?

[flyneye]

Many shouldn't unless expressing a decimal.
One gracious buffer to being the fat geek kid in gym class was that I could stroll through the locker room with my head held high and my gear swingin and NO ONE dared say a thing. Or Else! "whazzat Bob, hey, that looks like a penis only smaller, your mom must've wanted a girl pretty bad!
By and small, most Caucasians got nothing to crow about and should keep it a secret while being kind to others. More than one jocks girlfriend tasted geek and liked it.
Having a biggun' is wonderful, breaking the geek stereotype has been a lifetime of priceless.
But choose your measuring sticks carefully.
Now let's be careful out there.