ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors present three different perspectives on the process of learning mathematics. They deal with a psychological view of learning mathematics and present an anthropological view of the development of mathematical understanding. Anthropological perspective helps to resolve a puzzling evolutionary aspect of mathematical knowledge: its apparent lack of biological fitness benefits. In other species, numerical cognition appears to be specifically tied to adaptively relevant stimuli such as food or social partners. Evolutionary anthropologists study aspects of behaviour and cognition across different species, with the aim of revealing the biological evolutionary roots of the traits. Simple arithmetic has been examined in non-human species by adapting looking-time paradigms from developmental psychology to test whether individuals look longer at unexpected numerical violations. The emergence of numeracy skills in children is crucial for their cognitive development.
