Active (not passive) spatial imagery primes temporal judgements

Abstract

Previous research has shown that primes that induce particular spatial perspectives can influence temporal judgements. However, most studies have used priming stimuli that involve both spatial and motor language and imagery. Here we ask whether the motor content of these stimuli plays an important role in their ability to serve as effective primes. A total of 198 adult participants made temporal judgements after exposure to spatial primes involving varying levels of imagined effort. Spatial primes involving imagined motor actions, but not those involving equivalent passive motions through space, successfully primed decisions about time. This suggests that motor content, rather than spatial content alone, contributes to the priming effects that arise when people make temporal judgements after exposure to particular spatial perspectives.

Keywords:

• Spatial cognition
• Temporal judgements
• Metaphors
• Priming

Acknowledgments

We thank the members of the Cognitive Development Lab at Wesleyan University. The Wesleyan University Psychology Department, a Jacobs Graduate Fellowship, and a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Fellowship to J.S. supported this work.

Notes

¹ Sentences involving fictive motion, such as “The road runs along the coast”, can prime temporal judgements. Although these primes do not explicitly require participants to imagine effortful motion, it is thought that they lead participants to “subjectively scan a path” (e.g., Ramscar, Matlock, & Boroditsky, 2009); they also frequently use motor language (“run” in the above example).

² Because these data are binomial, we also conducted a binomial logit regression predicting response (Monday or Friday) from mover, effort, and their interaction. This analysis demonstrated the same effects as those reported above (all ps < .025).