Core deficit in the number module

I will argue that we inherit a number module that includes a core capacity for number abstraction and number reasoning. In Chapter 3, I showed how number sense underlies the development of arithmetical abilities, and outlined how other cognitive modules with their own core capacities – for example, language and colour perception – support extracting domain-specific information from the environment: that is, the modules are “tuned” to specific features of the environment and extract these features automatically. Now I turn to what happens when the number module fails to work efficiently which results in a core deficit in the capacity for number abstraction and number reasoning.