Parallel individuation system

The parallel individuation system, also called object tracking system is a non-symbolic cognitive system that supports the representation of numerical values from zero to three (in infants) or four (in adults and non-human animals). It is one of the two cognitive systems responsible for the representation of number, the other one being the approximate number system. Unlike the approximate number system, which is not precise and provides only an estimation of the number, the parallel individuation system is an exact system and encodes the exact numerical identity of the individual items. While counting and estimation correspond to the approximate number system, the parallel individuation system is tied to subitizing. The parallel individuation system has been attested in human adults, non-human animals, such as fish and human infants, although performance of infants is dependent on their age and task.

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