Are past and future symmetric in mental time line?

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

SUBMITTER: Ding X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4341513 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature