Mental Representations Of Time Research Articles

How time gets spatial: factors determining the stability and instability of the mental time line

Left-to-right readers classify faster past events with motor responses on the left side of space and future events with responses on the right side. This suggests a left-to-right spatial organization in the mental representation of time. Here, we show that the significance and reliability of this representation are linked to the joint use of temporal and spatial codes in the task at hand. In a first unimanual Go/No-Go Implicit Association Test (IAT), attending selectively to “past” or to “future” words did not activate corresponding “left” or “right” spatial concepts and vice versa. In a second IAT, attending to both temporal (i.e., “past” and “future”) words and spatial targets (i.e., “left” and “right”) pointing arrows produced faster responses for congruent rather than incongruent combinations of temporal and spatial concepts in task instructions (e.g., congruent = “Go with past words and left-pointing arrows”; incongruent = “Go with past words and right-pointing arrows”). This effect increased markedly in a STEARC task where spatial codes defined the selection between “left-side” and “right-side” button presses that were associated with “past” and “future” words. Two control experiments showed only partial or unreliable space–time congruency effects when (a) participants attended to superordinate semantic codes that included both spatial “left”/”right” or temporal “past/future” subordinate codes; (b) a primary speeded response was assigned to one dimension (e.g., “past vs. future”) and a nonspeeded one to the other dimension (e.g., “left” vs. “right”). These results help to define the conditions that trigger a stable and reliable spatial representation of time-related concepts.

Mental Representations of Time in English Monolinguals, Mandarin Monolinguals, and Mandarin-English Bilinguals.

This study recruited English monolinguals, Mandarin monolinguals, and Mandarin–English (ME) bilinguals to examine whether native English and native Mandarin speakers think about time differently and whether the acquisition of L2 English could reshape native Mandarin speakers’ mental representations of temporal sequence. Across two experiments, we used the temporal congruency categorization paradigm which involved two-alternative forced-choice reaction time tasks to contrast experimental conditions that were assumed to be either compatible or incompatible with the internal spatiotemporal associations. Results add to previous studies by confirming that native English and native Mandarin speakers do think about time differently, and the significant crosslinguistic discrepancy primarily lies in the vertical representations of time flow. However, current findings also clarify the existing literature, demonstrating that the acquisition of L2 English does not appear to affect native Mandarin speakers’ temporal cognition. ME bilinguals, irrespective of whether they attained elementary or advanced level of English proficiency, exhibited temporal thinking patterns commensurate with those of Mandarin monolinguals. Some theoretical implications regarding the effect of bilingualism on cognition in general can be drawn from the present study, a crucial one being that it provides evidence against the view that L2 acquisition can reshape habitual modes of thinking established by L1.

Can mirror reading reverse the flow of time? Evidence from Japanese speakers

Accumulating evidence over the last two decades has established the causal role of a unidirectional orthography in shaping speakers’ mental representations of time. Casasanto and Bottini (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 473-479, 2014) extended previous findings by showing that exposure to mirror-reversed orthography of speakers’ native language could completely redirect their mental timelines within minutes. However, the question of whether such a causal effect of writing direction on temporal cognition can be identified in speakers whose native languages adopt bidirectional orthographies remains underexplored in the literature. To address this issue, the present study focused on Japanese which uses bidirectional writing systems, one proceeding horizontally from left to right (HLR) and one vertically from top to bottom (VTB). Two experiments were performed, and the tasks asked participants to process standard/mirror orthography prime questions about time arranged horizontally or vertically, followed by horizontal or vertical arrays of pictorial target stimuli about temporal relations. Results demonstrated that Japanese speakers encoded passage of time into a top-to-bottom linear path commensurate with the VTB writing direction, but they did not align their mental representations of time with the HLR writing orientation. Accordingly, exposure to mirror-reversed bidirectional orthographies redirected Japanese speakers’ vertical but not horizontal space-time mappings. Theoretical implications concerning the causal effects of bidirectional orthographies and the generalizability of the representational flexibility of time maintained by Casasanto and Bottini (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 473-479) are discussed.

The Wheel of Time

Abstract Previous research suggests that both patterns in orthography and cultural-specific associations of space-time affect how people map space onto time. In the current study, we focused on Chinese Buddhists, an understudied population, investigating how religious experiences influence their mental representations of time. Results showed that Chinese Buddhists could represent time spatially corresponding to left-to-right, right-to-left and top-to-bottom orientations in their religious scripts. Specifically, they associated earlier events with the starting point of the reading and later times with the endpoint. We also found that Chinese Buddhists were more likely to represent time in a clockwise way than Chinese atheists. This is because Buddhism regards time as cyclic and consisting of repeating ages (i.e. Wheel of Time). Taken together, we provide first psychological evidence that Chinese Buddhists’ spatial representations of time are different from atheists’, due to their religious experiences, namely, both the reading direction in Buddhist texts and Buddhist concepts of time.

Do Writing Directions Influence How People Map Space onto Time?

Abstract. The causal role of a unidirectional orthography in shaping speakers’ mental representations of time seems to be well established by many psychological experiments. However, the question of whether bidirectional writing systems in some languages can also produce such an impact on temporal cognition remains unresolved. To address this issue, the present study focused on Japanese and Taiwanese, both of which have a similar mix of texts written horizontally from left to right (HLR) and vertically from top to bottom (VTB). Two experiments were performed which recruited Japanese and Taiwanese speakers as participants. Experiment 1 used an explicit temporal arrangement design, and Experiment 2 measured implicit space-time associations in participants along the horizontal (left/right) and the vertical (up/down) axis. Converging evidence gathered from the two experiments demonstrate that neither Japanese speakers nor Taiwanese speakers aligned their vertical representations of time with the VTB writing orientation. Along the horizontal axis, only Japanese speakers encoded elapsing time into a left-to-right linear layout, which was commensurate with the HLR writing direction. Therefore, two distinct writing orientations of a language could not bring about two coexisting mental time lines. Possible theoretical implications underlying the findings are discussed.

Visuospatial asymmetries and emotional valence influence mental time travel.

Spatial information is tightly intertwined with temporal and valence-based information. Namely, "past" is represented on the left, and "future" on the right, along a horizontal mental timeline. Similarly, right is associated with positive, whereas left is negative. We developed a novel task to examine the effects of emotional valence and temporal distance on mental representations of time. We compared positivity biases, where positive events are positioned closer to now, and right hemisphere emotion biases, where negative events are positioned to the left. When the entire life span was used, a positivity bias emerged; positive events were closer to now. When timeline length was reduced, positivity and right hemisphere emotion biases were consistent for past events. In contrast, positive and negative events were equidistant from now in the future condition, suggesting positivity and right hemisphere emotion biases opposed one another, leading events to be positioned at a similar distance. We then reversed the timeline by moving past to the right and future to the left. Positivity biases in the past condition were eliminated, and negative events were placed slightly closer to now in the future condition. We conclude that an underlying left-to-right mental representation of time is necessary for positivity biases to emerge for past events; however, our mental representations of future events are inconsistent with positivity biases. These findings point to an important difference in the way in which we represent the past and the future on our mental timeline. (PsycINFO Database Record

Is mental time embodied interpersonally?

Recent evidence has shown that the mental representation of time is "embodied"-time is expressed via the hands, the eyes, and the whole body. These findings suggest the existence of a manually reflected mental time line running (in Western culture) horizontally from left (past) to right (future) and an ocularly reflected mental time line running from left/down (past) to right/up (future). We addressed the question whether mental time is also reflected interpersonally and investigated whether an avatar's face orientation (left vs. right) would facilitate a subject's temporal processing in relation to the horizontal mental time line. In combination with a left- or right-gazing avatar, we presented a temporal auditory word ("gestern"-yesterday or "morgen"-tomorrow), and our subjects had to manually categorize the word as being either past- or future-related (classic left/right key-press paradigm). The stimulus-response (SR) mapping was either compatible (past word-left hand, future word-right hand) or incompatible (future word-left hand, past word-right hand). Responses were significantly faster in blocks with compatible versus incompatible mapping. Thus, our results provide clear evidence for manually reflected mental time running from left to right, even for temporal auditory words that are free of potential visual (reading direction) confounds. The presented interpersonal cues (avatar head orientation) facilitated the activation of the horizontal mental time line in blocks with incompatible SR-mapping but not in blocks with compatible (standard) mapping. We conclude that interpersonal cues exert weak effects on the spatial representation of mental time and can help to adapt context-specific mappings of temporal concepts.

Does movement influence representations of time and space?

Embodied cognition posits that abstract conceptual knowledge such as mental representations of time and space are at least partially grounded in sensorimotor experiences. If true, then the execution of whole-body movements should result in modulations of temporal and spatial reference frames. To scrutinize this hypothesis, in two experiments participants either walked forward, backward or stood on a treadmill and responded either to an ambiguous temporal question (Experiment 1) or an ambiguous spatial question (Experiment 2) at the end of the walking manipulation. Results confirmed the ambiguousness of the questions in the control condition. Nevertheless, despite large power, walking forward or backward did not influence the answers or response times to the temporal (Experiment 1) or spatial (Experiment 2) question. A follow-up Experiment 3 indicated that this is also true for walking actively (or passively) in free space (as opposed to a treadmill). We explore possible reasons for the null-finding as concerns the modulation of temporal and spatial reference frames by movements and we critically discuss the methodological and theoretical implications.

English and Mandarin speakers’ mental representations of time

The questions of whether aspects of language (spatiotemporal metaphor and/or orthography) shape temporal cognition in general and whether English and Mandarin speakers think about time differently in particular have attracted considerable attention and controversy. Focusing on these controversial issues, the present study examines and refines the findings from previous work with some new evidence. Experiment 1 used a card arrangement task in which participants were asked to arrange in order a series of cards depicting temporal sequences of natural events. Experiment 2 included the card arrangement task (the same as in Experiment 1) and a video judgment task. In the video judgment task, the stimulus presented a horizontal or a vertical array of pictures depicting a temporal sequence of natural events, and participants were asked to verify if the temporal sequence described in the pictures was in the correct order. Converging results yielded from the two experiments demonstrate that most Mandarin speakers (approximately 80%) may be identical to English speakers with regard to their salient horizontal bias for temporal cognition. Only approximately 20% of Mandarin speakers, who overwhelmingly rely on the vertical axis to reason about time, may differ from English speakers. The evidence suggests that there might be a possible relationship between language and temporal cognition, but the relationship is far more complicated and indefinite than a simple or absolute causal one. The issue of whether language plays a powerful and critical role that shapes people’s thought remains uncertain and is subject to further examinations and clarifications. Implications for theoretical and empirical issues concerning the language-thought relationship are discussed.

How strongly linked are mental time and space along the left-right axis?

Different lines of research suggest that our mental representations of time and space are linked, though the strength of this linkage has only recently been addressed for the front-back mental timeline (Eikmeier, Schröter, Maienborn, Alex-Ruf, & Ulrich, 2013). The present study extends this investigation to the left-right mental timeline. In contrast to what was found in the cited previous study, the obtained space-time congruency effects were smaller than benchmark stimulus-response congruency effects in control conditions. This pattern of results suggests that the representations of time and space are less strongly linked for the left-right axis than for the back-front axis.

Distance Effects in Mental Space and Time Travels

The ability to mentally navigate through time - thinking about the past, present and future - has been coined Mental Time Travel (MTT; Suddendorf & Corballis, 2007). MTT can be understood as a fusion of episodic (Tulving, 1984) and prospective memories and is thought to necessitate high-level cognitive processes such as recursion and analogy that operate on the mental representations of events in time. The theoretical landscape for MTT is closely related to our current understanding of space and number processing in the brain. For instance, a common reference frame for the representation of time, space and number has recently been proposed (Bueti & Walsh, 2009; Dehaene & Brannon, 2011) and evidence in favor of the existence of interferences across magnitudes is on the rise (Lambrechts et al., 2013). In order to gain a better understanding of the possible interfacing between the mental representations of time and space, we directly compared MTT with Mental Space Travel (MST). For this, we developed a psychophysical paradigm which constrained participants to produce a concurrent mapping in mental time and space. A set of real-world events was carefully designed using controlled locations, dates, and contexts for each single event; all events were near-homogeneously distributed across time and spatial longitude and centered on the year 2013 in Paris. Given a set of reference historical events taking place at a particular moment in time or at a particular geographical spot in the world, participants were asked to either project themselves mentally in time or in space in order to perform the task. Specifically, participants had to answer in a 2-alternatives forced-choice (2-AFC) whether a given test event occurred before or after a reference event (time dimension) or whether the test event was located east or west of the reference event (space dimension). Participants’ task was made relative to a spatiotemporal reference frame randomly intermixed to maintain both temporal and spatial layout in participants’ mind. Our measures of interest were participants’ reaction times (RT) and error rates (ER) in order to assess the distance effects in time (Temporal Distance Effect; Arzy, 2009; Santiago, 2010) and its analog in space (Spatial Distance Effect; Denis, 2008; McNammarra, 1986; Noordzij, 2005). Absolute distance effects (aDE) consist in an increase of RT and ER when comparing two events in a spatially or temporally distant reference frame relative to a present or local reference frame. Relative distance effects (rDE) consist in the increase of RT and ER with relative temporal or spatial distance between the event to be compared and the reference, irrespective of its actual temporal or spatial value. aDE can be interpreted as a cost of self-projection in time or space i.e., a shift of the mental reference of self; conversely, rDE may result from the comparison process of temporal or spatial positions of events on the mental time map. One central question was whether the same mental mapping is used for mental travel in time and space. Our results are interpreted in the context of a preliminary model consisting of three distinct cognitive stages, namely: a memory stage in which temporal and spatial information are recalled from memory as allocentric information; a second projection stage in which information is projected in egocentric coordinates as a point on a mental map serving a third comparison stage in which the temporal or spatial position of an event is compared to the egocentric reference. Memory stage: no temporal or spatial distance bias was observed in the memorization pre-test, suggesting that DEs do not simply result from properties of memory encoding. The memorization score pattern was in fact very different for time and space respective to the identity of the events, suggesting at least a separate recall process. Projection stage: a significant aDE was observed in space and time i.e., a significant increase of RTs for both temporal (Past and Future reference) and spatial (Western and Eastern reference relative to Paris) shifts, for both space and time judgments. However, a ERs increase was only seen for temporal shifts in time judgments, and spatial shifts in space judgments. The fact that aDE was domain-unspecific for RTs and domain-specific pour ERs suggests that the shifts impacts the process up to the comparison stage, after the dimension selection. Representation and comparison stage: rDE were found in time and space judgments but no inter-domain rDE was found. The lack of time-space interference in this task strongly suggests the existence of parallel representations for time and space. Their selection may occur at the comparison stage in order to perform the task. Crucially, rDE were best fitted by a logarithmic function of distance, confirming previous results in temporal domain and extending it to spatial domain. A significant interaction between aDE and rDE consisting in a steeper slope of rDE in temporally shifted reference conditions for temporal judgments and in spatially shifted reference conditions for spatial judgments, show the same properties of encoding the distance on both representation of time and space. Taken together, our results suggest that participants build parallel representations for time and space and switched between them while maintaining the mental projection of both temporal and spatial reference. The properties of the observed rDE suggest that the representation of time and space are comparable but whether the effects found are due to the encoding or to the comparison process are yet to be elucidated.

How Closely Related are Time and Space on the Left-right Axis?

Conceptual metaphor theory assumes that abstract concepts like time are represented by means of a concrete concept like space that can be experienced directly. Evidence for this assumption came initially from language research, which documented that almost all languages use spatial expressions to communicate temporal information (Haspelmath, 1997). Recent experimental research (e.g., Santiago et al., 2007; Ulrich & Maienborn, 2010) also showed that spatial concepts are activated when temporal linguistic information is processed. In these studies, participants judged the temporal content of a sentence or word. The speed of this judgment was influenced by the stimulus-response (S-R) mapping of the manual responses: participants responded faster to future-related information with the right hand than with the left hand and they responded faster to past-related information with the left hand than with the right hand. This space-time congruency effect suggests that we represent time in terms of a mental timeline that runs from left to right. Similar results were also obtained for the back-front axis (e.g., Torralbo, Santiago, & Lupiáñez, 2006; Ulrich et al., 2012) suggesting a second mental timeline that runs from back (past) to front (future).In order to explain this space-time congruency effect it has been suggested that our mental representations of time and space overlap. We assessed the extent to which the representations of these two domains overlap on the back-front axis in a preceding study (Eikmeier et al., 2013) that draws on the predictions made by the dimensional overlap model (Kornblum, Hasbroucq, & Osman, 1990). According to this model, the size of a congruency effect depends on the extent of overlap between stimulus and response dimensions. The larger this overlap is, the larger is the congruency effect. In the experiments of our preceding study, S- R sets were either related to time or to space. The S-R congruency effect obtained for identical S-R sets (time-time or space- space) and different S-R sets (time-space or space-time) were of approximately the same size. Since the overlap is maximal for identical S-R sets, we concluded that the representations of time and space strongly overlap.Although a space-time congruency effect has been documented for left-right axis as well, there is no evidence for a left-right mapping of past and future in natural language. Therefore it seems possible that the overlap of time and space on the left-right axis is weaker than the overlap on the back-front axis. To assess this hypothesis, we applied the above-described experimental logic to the left-right axis. In this experiment, participants vocally judged the temporal content of sentences referring to past or future. Reponses were either related to time (“past” or “future”; identical S-R sets) or to space (“in front” or “behind”; different S-R sets) and the S-R mapping was either congruent or incongruent. A larger S-R congruency effect was observed for the identical S-R set (time-time) than for the different S-R set (time-space). Compared with our earlier findings there was no difference between the identical and different S-R sets for the back-front axis, this result suggests a weaker overlap of time and space on the left-to-right than on the back-to-front axis.

Dimensional overlap between time and space

Several pieces of evidence suggest that our mental representations of time and space are linked. However, the extent of this linkage between the two domains has not yet been assessed. We present the results of two experiments that draw on the predictions of the dimensional overlap model (Kornblum, Hasbroucq, & Osman, Psychological Review 97:253-270, 1990). The stimulus and response sets in these reaction time experiments were related to either time or space. The obtained stimulus-response congruency effects were of about the same size for identical stimulus-response sets (time-time or space-space) and for different stimulus-response sets (time-space or space-time). These results support the view that our representations of time and space are strongly linked.

Cross‐Cultural Differences in Mental Representations of Time: Evidence From an Implicit Nonlinguistic Task

Across cultures people construct spatial representations of time. However, the particular spatial layouts created to represent time may differ across cultures. This paper examines whether people automatically access and use culturally specific spatial representations when reasoning about time. In Experiment 1, we asked Hebrew and English speakers to arrange pictures depicting temporal sequences of natural events, and to point to the hypothesized location of events relative to a reference point. In both tasks, English speakers (who read left to right) arranged temporal sequences to progress from left to right, whereas Hebrew speakers (who read right to left) arranged them from right to left, replicating previous work. In Experiments 2 and 3, we asked the participants to make rapid temporal order judgments about pairs of pictures presented one after the other (i.e., to decide whether the second picture showed a conceptually earlier or later time-point of an event than the first picture). Participants made responses using two adjacent keyboard keys. English speakers were faster to make "earlier" judgments when the "earlier" response needed to be made with the left response key than with the right response key. Hebrew speakers showed exactly the reverse pattern. Asking participants to use a space-time mapping inconsistent with the one suggested by writing direction in their language created interference, suggesting that participants were automatically creating writing-direction consistent spatial representations in the course of their normal temporal reasoning. It appears that people automatically access culturally specific spatial representations when making temporal judgments even in nonlinguistic tasks.