Origins of time: New insights into the psychological foundations of time

Origins of time: New insights into the psychological foundations of time Andrea Bender (andrea.bender@psysp.uib.no), Sieghard Beller (sieghard.beller@psysp.uib.no) Julio Santiago (santiago@ugr.es) Department of Psychology University of Granada Department of Psychology University of Bergen Esther Walker 2 (e1walker@cogsci.ucsd.edu), Benjamin Bergen 2 (bkbergen@cogsci.ucsd.edu), Rafael Nunez 2 (nunez@cogsci.ucsd.edu) Tyler Marghetis (tmarghet@ucsd.edu), Katharine Tillman 3 (katillman@ucsd.edu), Mahesh Srinivasan 4 (srinivasan@berkeley.edu), David Barner 3 (barner@ucsd.edu) Daniel Casasanto (casasanto@uchicago.edu) Department of Cognitive Science Department of Psychology University of California, San Diego Department of Psychology University of California, Berkeley Department of Psychology University of Chicago Lera Boroditsky 2 (lera@ucsd.edu) Symposium Moderator Keywords: time, space, abstract thought, metaphor, gesture, cross-cultural variability, development, concepts Introduction Bender and Beller adopt a cross–cultural perspective to examine the role of frames of reference in the conceptualization of time. Marghetis, Tillman, Srinivasan, and Barner explore the development of spatial metaphors for time in children, focusing on spontaneous temporal gestures and their relation to the acquisition of temporal language. Santiago discusses the roles of culture and attention in shaping cross-cultural differences in the conceptualization of time. Walker, Bergen, and Nunez argue that different conceptual models are used for different kinds of temporal reasoning. Finally, Casasanto compares and contrasts existing theories of the origins of interactions between space and time. Boroditsky serves as moderator. What are the origins of our ability to perceive and reason about time? The human experience of time is rich and multifaceted: low-level duration perception on the order of seconds; words (e.g. “hour”) and grammatical features (e.g. tense) that encode specific aspects of temporal experience; and high-level reasoning about duration, sequences, and causality. While some of these temporal abilities are present early in development (e.g. duration perception), others do not emerge for many years (e.g. the semantics of temporal words like “hour” or “yesterday”). There is an active debate about the origins of these varied facets of temporal cognition (e.g., Nunez & Cooperrider, 2013; Evans, 2013; Casasanto & Bottini, 2013). For instance, what are their evolutionary and developmental sources? Do certain temporal capacities distinguish us from non-human animals? Is our understanding of time built on a spatial foundation, or do both space and time rely on a shared, domain-general representational system? The time is ripe for an integrated approach to this foundational human capacity. This symposium brings together researchers whose work has presented varied perspectives on the psychological origins of time, from perception to conceptualization (e.g., Bender & Beller, in press; Casasanto & Bottini, 2013; Santiago et al, 2007; Nunez & Cooperrider, 2013; Boroditsky & Gaby, 2010). The researchers hail from a variety of backgrounds, including anthropology, linguistics, psychology, and cognitive science, and approach the origins of time from the perspective of human development, cross- cultural variability, and cognitive processing. The five talks will discuss recent evidence from development, language, culture, and behavior, followed by a brief moderated discussion. Questions on temporal Frames of Reference (FoRs): Principles, preferences, and possible grounding in spatial FoRs (Beller & Bender) When speaking and reasoning about time, people do not only tend to use vocabulary and concepts borrowed from the domain of space, they also engage in similar cognitive processes. Localizing one object in reference to another, for instance, requires one to adopt a specific perspective or “frame of reference” (FoR). The same holds when localizing one event in reference to another. Yet, while research on spatial FoRs has been highly prolific for almost two decades now, research on temporal FoRs is still in its infancy, hampered by a lack of consensus even on basic assumptions: Can spatial FoRs be mapped onto time at all? On which principles should such a mapping and/or the resultant taxonomy of temporal FoRs be based? How should findings on temporal references be interpreted? And what does this reveal about the origins of temporal reasoning? In this talk, we critically discuss current problems in conceptualization, but also highlight the potential of a unified taxonomy of spatio-temporal FoRs.