What Lies beneath? the conceptual connectivity underpinning whole number arithmetic

Whole number arithmetic (WNA) is considered central to mathematics in the modern industrialised world. New developments in the cognitive and neurocognitive sciences, however, propose that WNA should be viewed in relation to the domain of mathematics more broadly and the real world interactions from which mathematics have developed. This may require mathematics to be conceptualised as a coherent domain that develops from human interaction, and that is reliant on spatial negotiation of one’s environment. A lens on conceptual connectivity integral to an awareness of spatial pattern and structure, therefore, may offer a more complete picture of the connectivity that underlies WNA. A stronger focus on ‘non-numerosity’ attributes of mathematics learning and how they underpin WNA and mathematics more generally is proposed.