Thinking in and about time: A dual systems perspective on temporal cognition

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Philosophy of Time

Background:

• Temporal cognition is crucial for understanding events unfolding over time.
• Existing models often lack a clear distinction between basic and complex temporal processing.
• Understanding the evolution and development of temporal cognition offers insights into human consciousness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and elaborate on a dual systems approach to temporal cognition.
• To differentiate between a temporal updating system and a temporal reasoning system.
• To apply this dual systems model to explain findings across comparative, developmental, and philosophical domains.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical framework development.
• Literature review and synthesis of findings from comparative psychology, developmental psychology, and philosophy of time.
• Conceptual analysis of temporal updating and temporal reasoning.

Main Results:

• Identified two distinct cognitive systems for time: temporal updating (primitive) and temporal reasoning (advanced).
• Argued that animals and young children primarily use temporal updating, while adults integrate both systems.
• Proposed the dual systems model explains human self-contradictory thinking about time and mechanisms of delayed gratification.

Conclusions:

• The dual systems approach provides a novel framework for understanding temporal cognition.
• This distinction is valuable for interpreting animal behavior, child development, and adult philosophical reasoning about time.
• The model offers insights into intertemporal choice and the mechanisms of delaying gratification.