15 Quotes by Elizabeth Spelke

Knowing this, we may be able to enhance math training.

I think it's really fascinating that geometry is so difficult. My guess is it's difficult because it focuses on proofs.

Our studies show these abilities are universal, and they develop in the absence of instruction. You don't need to take a class in geometry, and you don't need to learn from a teacher what a right triangle is in order to show this sensitivity.

The experiments of the infants and the monkeys, I think, make it extremely likely that these abilities are inborn.

When children start learning math in school, they already have a basic understanding of the concepts. This understanding should guide teachers to work on enhancing these skills.

While geometrical concepts can be enriched by culture-specific devices like maps, or the terms of a natural language, underneath this variability lies a shared set of geometrical concepts. Those concepts allow adults and children with no formal education, and minimal spatial language, to categorize geometrical forms and to use geometrical relationship to represent the surrounding spatial layout.

What's central about numbers for us as adults is that we can apply a number like 7 to a diverse number of things. We can say that there are seven dots but also that a horn honks seven times. Although these are different in their sensory qualities, the numbers are the same.

What our study shows is that children have a fundamental understanding of addition and of numbers and we hope to harness that ability to enhance mathematic instruction.

The spontaneous understanding of geometrical concepts and maps by this remote human community provides evidence that core geometrical knowledge is a universal constituent of the human mind.