Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

This paper aims to clear up terminological confusion in the study of numerical cognition, regarding subitizing (Kaufman, Lord, Reese, & Volkmann, 1949). While the term 'subitizing' was originally coined to describe the behaviour of numerate humans, it has since been applied to preverbal infants and animals. I first explore what this more inclusive interpretation entails, including the possibility of seeing subitizing as a cognitive system, and why this leads to confusion. I then argue that framing subitizing as something that is possible in subjects for which there is no conclusive evidence of there being systems that produce numerical content dilutes the concept of number. I end by discussing how the promiscuous interpretation applies to discontinuities in behaviour and in the ontogeny of numerical cognition. In each case, I show that this interpretation leads to confusion about numbers, and forces number nativism where more neutral takes are preferrable.