Priming the mental time-line: effects of modality and processing mode

Spanish and English speakers tend to conceptualize time as running from left to right along a mental line. Previous research suggests that this representational strategy arises from the participants’ exposure to a left-to-right writing system. However, direct evidence supporting this assertion suffers from several limitations and relies only on the visual modality. This study subjected to a direct test the reading hypothesis using an auditory task. Participants from two groups (Spanish and Hebrew) differing in the directionality of their orthographic system had to discriminate temporal reference (past or future) of verbs and adverbs (referring to either past or future) auditorily presented to either the left or right ear by pressing a left or a right key. Spanish participants were faster responding to past words with the left hand and to future words with the right hand, whereas Hebrew participants showed the opposite pattern. Our results demonstrate that the left-right mapping of time is not restricted to the visual modality and that the direction of reading accounts for the preferred directionality of the mental time line. These results are discussed in the context of a possible mechanism underlying the effects of reading direction on highly abstract conceptual representations.

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Priming the mental time line.

Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception & Performance ◽

10.1037/a0028346 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 38 (4) ◽

pp. 838-842 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Maria Grazia Di Bono ◽

Marco Casarotti ◽

Konstantinos Priftis ◽

Lucia Gava ◽

Carlo Umiltà ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Time Line ◽

Mental Time Line

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Representation of time intervals in the right posterior parietal cortex: Implications for a mental time line

NeuroImage ◽

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.03.042 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 46 (4) ◽

pp. 1173-1179 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

Massimiliano Oliveri ◽

Giacomo Koch ◽

Silvia Salerno ◽

Sara Torriero ◽

Emanuele Lo Gerfo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parietal Cortex ◽

Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽

Time Intervals ◽

Time Line ◽

Mental Time Line ◽

Posterior Parietal ◽

The Right ◽

Representation Of Time

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Closing the symbolic reference gap to support flexible reasoning about the passage of time

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x19000372 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Author(s):

Danielle DeNigris ◽

Patricia J. Brooks

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Development ◽

Dual Systems ◽

Developmental Processes ◽

Time Line ◽

Systems Perspective ◽

Mental Time Line ◽

Representational Redescription

Abstract This commentary relates Hoerl & McCormack's dual systems perspective to models of cognitive development emphasizing representational redescription and the role of culturally constructed tools, including language, in providing flexible formats for thinking. We describe developmental processes that enable children to construct a mental time line, situate themselves in time, and overcome the primacy of the here and now.

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