Are past and future symmetric in mental time line?

Frontiers in Psychology
Xianfeng DingZhao Fan

Abstract

A growing body of evidence has suggested that time, from early to late, or from past to future, was represented in a spatially oriented mental time line. However, little is known about its characteristics. The present study provided the first empirical evidence to explore the symmetry of spatial representations of past and future in the mental time line. Specifically, we compared the Spatial-Temporal Association Response Codes (STARC) effects and distance effects of past and future in four experiments. Results showed that for near past and near future, STARC effects were similar (Experiment 1). For distant past, the STARC effect was significant, but not for distant future (Experiment 2). Furthermore, the distance effect in the past was significantly stronger than in the future (Experiments 3, 4). These findings supported the idea that time points are not evenly distributed in mental time line. Spatial representations of the past and the future are asymmetric, and the spatial representation of past seems stronger than future. The logarithmic pattern of internal spatial representation of past or future is also discussed.

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Citations

Jun 19, 2015·Journal of Experimental Child Psychology·A LinzariniG Borst
Jan 17, 2019·Cognitive Science·Linda von SobbeRolf Ulrich
Dec 13, 2018·Experimental Brain Research·Anne MacnamaraHannah A D Keage
Aug 31, 2018·Psychological Research·Manila VannucciPeter Brugger
Jul 23, 2021·Psychological Research·Alessia BeracciMarco Fabbri

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Software Mentioned

STARC
ATOM

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