The Spatial Foundations of Time and Number Representation

描述(申请人提供)：本研究的目的是研究时间、空间和数量表征之间的关系，以及语言如何影响这些表征之间的交互作用。一个重要的问题是，像数字或时间这样的抽象概念是否通过将它们映射到具体结构(如空间)来进行推理。有一些证据表明，数字被映射到空间上(Dehaene等人，1993)，空间也被用来思考时间(Boroditsky，2000；Casasanto，2007)。然而，目前尚不清楚这些跨域映射是如何发展的，以及语言是否是它们出现的关键因素。为了探索这些问题，我建议对恒河猴、8个月大的婴儿和成年人进行测试，采用一分为二的程序，考察一个无关的维度如何影响对另一个任务相关维度的决定。参与者将首先接受培训，以便对给定维度(例如，空间、时间或数字)的“大”和“小”锚值进行分类。随后，参与者将被给予探索性试验，在试验中，他们将把中间值归类为“大”或“小”类别。然后，我们将确定主观平等点(PSE)，在PSE中，参与者将刺激分为“大”或“小”的可能性相等。下一步，我们将进行一项跨维二分测试，其中不相关的维度(例如空间)是不同的，而参与者对相关维度(例如时间)进行二分判断。其目的是确定不相关维度的值是否影响相关维度的判断，其次，维度之间是对称的还是非对称的影响(例如，空间对时间判断的影响是否大于时间对空间判断的影响？)这些实验将有助于阐明人类抽象思维的发展，也有助于阐明语言和知觉过程在时间和数字表征中的基础作用。鉴于之前的研究表明空间加工中断和数字加工之间的联系，我们的研究可能会对一些数字加工障碍和计算障碍的发展有所启示。先前的研究(证明了空间加工中断和数字加工中断之间的明确联系(Zorzi等人，2002)。理解空间、时间和数字之间的联系，以及这些表征是如何发展的，可能有助于解释空间加工中断和其他认知能力之间的关系。因此，这项研究可能为临床行为筛查学习困难的复合体提供理论基础，这些复合体可能与数字、空间和时间之间的映射有关。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of the proposed research is to study the relationship between the representation of time, space, and number and how language affects interactions between these representations. An important question is whether abstract concepts like number or time, are reasoned about by mapping them onto concrete structures such as space. There is some evidence that number is mapped onto space (Dehaene et al, 1993) and also that space is used to think about time (Boroditsky, 2000; Casasanto, 2007). It is unclear however, how these cross-domain mappings develop and whether language is a critical factor in their emergence. To explore these issues, I propose to test rhesus monkeys, 8 month old infants, and adult humans using a bisection procedure that examines how an irrelevant dimension influences decisions about another task-relevant dimension. Participants will first be trained to classify "large" and "small" anchor values for a given dimension (e.g. space, time, or number). Subsequently, participants will be given probe trials in which they will classify intermediate values as belonging to the "large" or "small" category. We will then determine the point of subjective equality (PSE) in which participants are equally likely to classify the stimulus as the "large" or "small". Next, we will conduct a cross-dimensional bisection test in which an irrelevant dimension is varied (e.g. space) while participants make bisection judgments about a relevant dimension (e.g. time). The purpose is to determine whether the values of the irrelevant dimension influence judgments of the relevant dimension, and secondly, whether dimensions influence each other symmetrically or asymmetrically (e.g. does space influence time judgments more than time influences space judgments?). These experiments will shed light on the development of abstract thinking in humans, and also help clarify the foundational roles of language and perceptual processes in the representation of time and number. Given previous research showing links between disruptions in spatial and numerical processing, our research may have implications for the development of some numerical processing disorders and dyscalculia. Prior research (demonstrates clear links between disruptions in spatial processing and disruptions in numerical processing (Zorzi et al, 2002).Understanding the links between space, time, and number, and how these representations develop, may help explain the relationship between disruptions in spatial processing and other cognitive abilities. This research may therefore provide theoretical groundwork for clinical behavioral screens for complexes of learning difficulties that may be associated with mappings between number, space, and time.