The Spatial Foundations of Time and Number Representation

描述（由申请人提供）：拟研究的目的是研究时间、空间和数字的表征之间的关系，以及语言如何影响这些表征之间的相互作用。一个重要的问题是，数字或时间等抽象概念是否可以通过映射到空间等具体结构来推理。有证据表明，数字被映射到空间（Dehaene et al, 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领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，使用等分程序来检查不相关的维度如何影响对另一个任务相关维度的决策。参与者将首先接受训练，对给定维度（如空间、时间或数字）的“大”和“小”锚值进行分类。随后，参与者将被给予探测试验，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），在这个点上，参与者同样有可能将刺激分类为“大”或“小”。接下来，我们将进行一个跨维度对分测试，在这个测试中，参与者对一个不相关的维度（如空间）进行改变，同时对一个相关的维度（如时间）进行对分判断。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，维度之间的相互影响是对称的还是不对称的（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？）这些实验将揭示人类抽象思维的发展，也有助于阐明语言和感知过程在时间和数字表征中的基本作用。鉴于先前的研究显示了空间和数值处理中断之间的联系，我们的研究可能对一些数值处理障碍和计算障碍的发展有启示。先前的研究（证明了空间处理中断和数值处理中断之间的明确联系）（Zorzi et al, 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处理中断与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可能与数字、空间和时间之间的映射相关的学习困难的复合体提供理论基础。

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.