Logarithm Versus Linear Thinking: Why In Our Brains The Midpoint Of 1 And 9 Might Be 3
Friday, October 5, 2012 - 13:10
in Psychology & Sociology
If you ask an adult for the midpoint between 1 and 9 they say 5. Mentally, they put 9 points on a ine and add 1 and then split that in half.But if you ask a child or someone from a culture not trained in maths, the answer could be different; perhaps 3. It isn't that they don't know how to count, it's because it's actually more natural for humans to think logarithmically instead of linearly, say researchers. Neural circuits seem to bear out that hypothesis; in psychological experiments, multiplying the intensity of some sensory stimuli causes a linear increase in perceived intensity. read more