Embodied time: Effect of reading expertise on the spatial representation of past and future.
How do people grasp the abstract concept of time? It has been argued that abstract concepts, such as future and past, are grounded in sensorimotor experience. When responses to words that refer to the past or the future are either spatially compatible or incompatible with a left-to-right timeline, a...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
|
| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276273 |
| _version_ | 1811334452055375872 |
|---|---|
| author | Camille L Grasso Johannes C Ziegler Jennifer T Coull Marie Montant |
| author_facet | Camille L Grasso Johannes C Ziegler Jennifer T Coull Marie Montant |
| author_sort | Camille L Grasso |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | How do people grasp the abstract concept of time? It has been argued that abstract concepts, such as future and past, are grounded in sensorimotor experience. When responses to words that refer to the past or the future are either spatially compatible or incompatible with a left-to-right timeline, a space-time congruency effect is observed. In the present study, we investigated whether reading expertise determines the strength of the space-time congruency effect, which would suggest that learning to read and write drives the effect. Using a temporal categorization task, we compared two types of space-time congruency effects, one where spatial incongruency was generated by the location of the stimuli on the screen and one where it was generated by the location of the responses on the keyboard. While the first type of incongruency was visuo-spatial only, the second involved the motor system. Results showed stronger space-time congruency effects for the second type of incongruency (i.e., when the motor system was involved) than for the first type (visuo-spatial). Crucially, reading expertise, as measured by a standardized reading test, predicted the size of the space-time congruency effects. Altogether, these results reinforce the claim that the spatial representation of time is partially mediated by the motor system and partially grounded in spatially-directed movement, such as reading or writing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T17:08:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8d9ea9adb48842c3b17d07e96b4fb310 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T17:08:04Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-8d9ea9adb48842c3b17d07e96b4fb3102022-12-22T02:38:23ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-011710e027627310.1371/journal.pone.0276273Embodied time: Effect of reading expertise on the spatial representation of past and future.Camille L GrassoJohannes C ZieglerJennifer T CoullMarie MontantHow do people grasp the abstract concept of time? It has been argued that abstract concepts, such as future and past, are grounded in sensorimotor experience. When responses to words that refer to the past or the future are either spatially compatible or incompatible with a left-to-right timeline, a space-time congruency effect is observed. In the present study, we investigated whether reading expertise determines the strength of the space-time congruency effect, which would suggest that learning to read and write drives the effect. Using a temporal categorization task, we compared two types of space-time congruency effects, one where spatial incongruency was generated by the location of the stimuli on the screen and one where it was generated by the location of the responses on the keyboard. While the first type of incongruency was visuo-spatial only, the second involved the motor system. Results showed stronger space-time congruency effects for the second type of incongruency (i.e., when the motor system was involved) than for the first type (visuo-spatial). Crucially, reading expertise, as measured by a standardized reading test, predicted the size of the space-time congruency effects. Altogether, these results reinforce the claim that the spatial representation of time is partially mediated by the motor system and partially grounded in spatially-directed movement, such as reading or writing.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276273 |
| spellingShingle | Camille L Grasso Johannes C Ziegler Jennifer T Coull Marie Montant Embodied time: Effect of reading expertise on the spatial representation of past and future. PLoS ONE |
| title | Embodied time: Effect of reading expertise on the spatial representation of past and future. |
| title_full | Embodied time: Effect of reading expertise on the spatial representation of past and future. |
| title_fullStr | Embodied time: Effect of reading expertise on the spatial representation of past and future. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Embodied time: Effect of reading expertise on the spatial representation of past and future. |
| title_short | Embodied time: Effect of reading expertise on the spatial representation of past and future. |
| title_sort | embodied time effect of reading expertise on the spatial representation of past and future |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276273 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT camillelgrasso embodiedtimeeffectofreadingexpertiseonthespatialrepresentationofpastandfuture AT johannescziegler embodiedtimeeffectofreadingexpertiseonthespatialrepresentationofpastandfuture AT jennifertcoull embodiedtimeeffectofreadingexpertiseonthespatialrepresentationofpastandfuture AT mariemontant embodiedtimeeffectofreadingexpertiseonthespatialrepresentationofpastandfuture |