Humans share with other animals a system for thinking about numbers in an imprecise and intuitive way. The approximate number system (ANS) that underlies this thinking is present throughout the lifespan, is entirely nonverbal, and supports basic numerical computations like comparing, adding, and subtracting quantities. Humans, unlike other animals, also have a system for representing exact numbers. This linguistically mediated system is slowly mastered over the course of many years and provides the basis for most of our formal mathematical thought. A growing body of evidence suggests that the nonverbal ANS and the culturally invented system of exact numbers are fundamentally linked. In this article, we review evidence for this relation, describing how group and individual differences in the ANS correlate with and even predict formal math ability. In this way, we illustrate how a system of ancient core knowledge may serve as a foundation for more complex mathematical thought.

中文翻译：

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直观的数字感与正式数学能力之间的联系。

人类与其他动物共享一个以不精确和直观的方式思考数字的系统。作为这种思维基础的近似数系统 (ANS) 存在于整个生命周期中，完全是非语言的，并支持基本的数值计算，如比较、加法和减法。与其他动物不同，人类也有一个表示精确数字的系统。这种以语言为中介的系统经过多年的慢慢掌握，并为我们大多数正式的数学思想提供了基础。越来越多的证据表明，非语言 ANS 和文化发明的精确数字系统有着根本的联系。在本文中，我们回顾了这种关系的证据，描述了 ANS 中的群体和个体差异如何与正式数学能力相关甚至预测。