Abstract
Space and time are intimately linked in the human mind, but different theories make different predictions about the nature of this relationship. Metaphor Theory (MT) predicts an asymmetric relationship between space and time. By contrast, A Theory of Magnitude (ATOM) does not predict any cross-dimensional asymmetry, since according to ATOM spatial and temporal extents are represented by a common neural metric for analog magnitude. To date, experiments designed to contrast these theories support MT over ATOM, in adults and children. Yet, proponents of ATOM have questioned whether some of the observed cross-dimensional asymmetries could be task-related artifacts. Here we conducted a test of the asymmetric relationship between space and time in children's minds, equating the perceptual availability of spatial and temporal information in the stimuli more stringently than in previous experiments in children. Results showed the space-time asymmetry predicted by MT. For the same stimuli (i.e., snails racing along parallel paths), spatial information influenced temporal judgments more than temporal information influenced spatial judgments. These results corroborate previous findings in Greek children and extend them to children who speak Dutch and Brazilian Portuguese. The space-time asymmetry in children's judgments is not due to task-related differences in the perceptual availability of spatial and temporal information in the stimuli; rather, it appears to be a consequence of how spatial and temporal representations are associated in the child's mind.
Highlights
Space and time are intimately linked in the human mind
The observed spacetime asymmetry supports Metaphor Theory (MT), which suggests that people often use space as a representational scaffold for time, but it challenges A Theory of Magnitude (ATOM), which accords equal status to representations of space, time, and other prothetic dimensions
It is possible that ATOM could be modified to accommodate a representational asymmetry between space and time
Summary
Space and time are intimately linked in the human mind. In the twenty-first century, two theories have motivated numerous experiments on relationships between space and time: A Theory of Magnitude (ATOM; Walsh, 2003) and Metaphor Theory (MT; Lakoff and Johnson, 1999). These theories lead to different predictions about exactly how space and time are related in our brains and minds. Support for ATOM comes from behavioral experiments showing crossdimensional priming or interference between different prothetic domains (Henik and Tzelgov, 1982; Dormal and Pesenti, 2007; Bueti and Walsh, 2009), and from neuroimaging studies showing that magnitude processing in various domains activates overlapping areas in the parietal lobe (Fias et al, 2003; Pinel et al, 2004; Dormal and Pesenti, 2009; cf., Gijssels et al, 2013)
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