Department of Anthropology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124–2005, USA.
Cogn Sci. 2012 Jan-Feb;36(1):130-41. doi: 10.1111/j.1551-6709.2011.01209.x. Epub 2011 Nov 3.
Recent research has suggested that the Pirahã, an Amazonian tribe with a number-less language, are able to match quantities > 3 if the matching task does not require recall or spatial transposition. This finding contravenes previous work among the Pirahã. In this study, we re-tested the Pirahãs' performance in the crucial one-to-one matching task utilized in the two previous studies on their numerical cognition, as well as in control tasks requiring recall and mental transposition. We also conducted a novel quantity recognition task. Speakers were unable to consistently match quantities > 3, even when no recall or transposition was involved. We provide a plausible motivation for the disparate results previously obtained among the Pirahã. Our findings are consistent with the suggestion that the exact recognition of quantities > 3 requires number terminology.
最近的研究表明，拥有无量词语言的亚马逊部落皮拉罕人，如果匹配任务不需要回忆或空间转换，则能够匹配 >3 的数量。这一发现与皮拉罕人之前的研究工作相悖。在这项研究中，我们重新测试了皮拉罕人在之前两项关于他们的数量认知研究中使用的关键一对一匹配任务以及需要回忆和心理转换的控制任务中的表现。我们还进行了一项新的数量识别任务。即使不涉及回忆或转换，说话者也无法始终如一地匹配 >3 的数量。我们为之前在皮拉罕人身上获得的不同结果提供了一个合理的动机。我们的发现与以下观点一致，即准确识别 >3 的数量需要数字术语。
