Dataset Information

The Developmental Emergence of the Mental Time-Line: Spatial and Numerical Distortion of Time Judgement.

ABSTRACT: The perception of time is susceptible to distortion by factors such as attention, emotion, or even the physical properties of the stimulus to be timed. In adults, there is now evidence for a left-right spatial representation of time or "mental time-line", in which short durations map to the left side of space, whereas long durations map to the right. We investigated the developmental trajectory of the mental time-line, by examining how spatial and numerical stimulus properties affect temporal bisection judgements in 3 groups of children (5, 8 or 10 year olds), as well as in adults. In contrast to previous developmental studies of the spatial representation of time, we manipulated spatial position (left-right) rather than spatial magnitude (distance) so as to pinpoint the age at which the mental time-line begins to influence the judgement of time. In addition, we manipulated spatial position symbolically, either directly, using left- or right-pointing arrows, or indirectly, using low (1) or high (9) digits. In adults and older children (10 year olds), the rightward arrow and the higher digit were judged to last longer. However, time judgements were unaffected by arrow direction and digits in the younger children. Therefore, the temporal distortions induced by symbolic representations of space (arrows) or number (digits) emerged with development, suggesting that the mental time-line is not derived from a primitive spatial representation of time but, rather, is the fruit of learning and is acquired around the age of 8-10 years old.

SUBMITTER: Droit-Volet S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4489723 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The Developmental Emergence of the Mental Time-Line: Spatial and Numerical Distortion of Time Judgement.

Droit-Volet Sylvie S Coull Jennifer J

PloS one 20150702 7

The perception of time is susceptible to distortion by factors such as attention, emotion, or even the physical properties of the stimulus to be timed. In adults, there is now evidence for a left-right spatial representation of time or "mental time-line", in which short durations map to the left side of space, whereas long durations map to the right. We investigated the developmental trajectory of the mental time-line, by examining how spatial and numerical stimulus properties affect temporal bi ...[more]

PMID: 26135743

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Project description:According to theories of embodied numerosity, processing of numerical magnitude is anchored in bodily experiences. In particular, spatial representations of number interact with movement in physical space, but it is still unclear whether the extent of the movement is relevant for this interaction. In this study, we compared spatial-numerical associations over response movements of differing spatial expansion. We expected spatial-numerical effects to increase with the extent of physical response movements. In addition, we hypothesized that these effects should be influenced by whether or not a spatial representation of numbers was presented. Adult participants performed two tasks: a magnitude classification (comparing numbers to the fixed standard 5), from which we calculated the Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect; and a magnitude comparison task (comparing two numbers against each other), from which we calculated a relative numerical congruity effect (NCE), which describes that when two relatively small numbers are compared, responses to the smaller number are faster than responses to the larger number; and vice versa for large numbers. A SNARC effect was observed across all conditions and was not influenced by response movement extent but increased when a number line was presented. In contrast, an NCE was only observed when no number line was presented. This suggests that the SNARC effect and the NCE reflect two different processes. The SNARC effect seems to represent a highly automated classification of numbers as large or small, which is further emphasized by the presentation of a number line. In contrast, the NCE likely results from participants not only classifying numbers as small or large, but also processing their relative size within the relevant section of their mental number line representation. An additional external presentation of a number line might interfere with this process, resulting in overall slower responses. This study follows up on previous spatial-numerical training studies and has implications for future spatial-numerical trainings. Specifically, similar studies with children showed contrasting results, in that response format but not number line presentation influenced spatial-numerical associations. Accordingly, during development, the relative relevance of physical experiences and presentation format for spatial-numerical associations might change.

Dataset Information

The Developmental Emergence of the Mental Time-Line: Spatial and Numerical Distortion of Time Judgement.

Publications

The Developmental Emergence of the Mental Time-Line: Spatial and Numerical Distortion of Time Judgement.

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