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Vertical Mental Timeline Is Not Influenced by VisuoSpatial Processing
Alessia Beracci1, Marco Fabbri2
1Department of Psychology Renzo Canestrari, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
Brain Sciences
|February 23, 2024
Summary
This study found that how we process visual space does not affect our mental timeline direction. Daily experiences with verticality likely explain the common bottom-to-top representation of time.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Spatial Cognition
Background:
- The directionality of the mental vertical timeline (bottom-to-top vs. top-to-bottom) remains inconclusive.
- Visuospatial processing of temporal stimuli may influence time representation along vertical space.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if and how visuospatial processing modulates the vertical timeline.
- To examine the influence of spatial location and presentation direction on temporal categorization.
Main Methods:
- An online temporal categorization task was employed with 150 Italian university students.
- Participants responded to past/future words using up/down arrow keys.
- Experiments varied word location (top, middle, bottom) and stimulus presentation direction (upward/downward).
Main Results:
- Response times indicated a consistent association: past with down arrows, future with up arrows.
- This association held true regardless of word spatial location or stimulus presentation direction.
- Results suggest visuospatial processing does not influence the mental timeline's direction.
Conclusions:
- The mental timeline's direction is not modulated by visuospatial processing.
- Daily experiences with verticality (e.g., elevators, stairs) may explain the prevalent bottom-to-top time representation.
- Further research could explore other factors influencing mental time representation.
Keywords:
STEARC effectTime-to-Position taskmental timelinemore-is-up metaphortemporal decision taskvertical spacevisuospatial processingMore Related Videos
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