Evolutionary Constraints on the Emergence of Human Mathematical Concepts

Abstract

Nonhuman animals and humans share many kinds of insights about the physical world. One of those is the ability to reason logically about the number of items in a set of physical objects. Current research suggests that nonverbal numerical reasoning about physical objects is the first type of numerical cognition that emerges in human development and it influences the development of children's formal numerical concepts such as verbal counting and arithmetic. Comparative research between humans and nonhuman primates can help us gain an understanding of the evolutionary origins of primitive mathematical concepts in humans, and characterize the basic algorithms that support the emergence of mathematical reasoning over human development. In this chapter we describe current knowledge from comparative cognition and neuroscience about the genetic/maturational, environmental, and evolutionary factors that underlie early mathematical concept development in humans.