Vallesi Antonino, Binns Malcolm A, Shallice Tim
Cognitive Neuroscience Sector, SISSA-ISAS, Trieste, Italy.
Cognition. 2008 May;107(2):501-27. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2007.10.011. Epub 2008 Feb 20.
The present study addresses the question of how such an abstract concept as time is represented by our cognitive system. Specifically, the aim was to assess whether temporal information is cognitively represented through left-to-right spatial coordinates, as already shown for other ordered sequences (e.g., numbers). In Experiment 1, the task-relevant information was the temporal duration of a cross. RTs were shorter when short and long durations had to be responded to with left and right hands, respectively, than with the opposite stimulus-response mapping. The possible explanation that the foreperiod effect (i.e., shorter RTs for longer durations) is greater with right than with left hand responses is discarded by results of Experiment 2, in which right and left hand responses alternated block-wise in a variable foreperiod paradigm. Other explanations concerning manual or hemispheric asymmetries may be excluded based on the results of control experiments, which show that the compatibility effect between response side and cross duration occurs for accuracy when responses are given with crossed hands (Experiment 3), and for RTs when responses are given within one hand (Experiment 4). This pattern suggests that elapsing time, similarly to other ordered information, is represented in some circumstances through an internal spatial reference frame, in a way that may influence motor performance. Finally, in Experiment 5, the temporal duration was parametrically varied using different values for each response category (i.e., 3 short and 3 long durations). The compatibility effect between hand and duration was replicated, but followed a rectangular function of the duration. The shape of this function is discussed in relation to the specific task demands.
本研究探讨了诸如时间这样的抽象概念是如何被我们的认知系统所表征的问题。具体而言，其目的是评估时间信息是否像其他有序序列（如数字）那样，通过从左到右的空间坐标进行认知表征。在实验1中，与任务相关的信息是一个十字的持续时间。当分别用左手和右手对短持续时间和长持续时间做出反应时，反应时间比采用相反的刺激 - 反应映射时要短。实验2的结果排除了前导时间效应（即持续时间越长反应时间越短）在右手反应时比左手反应时更大的这种可能解释，在实验2中，右手和左手反应在可变前导时间范式中按块交替进行。基于对照实验的结果可以排除其他关于手动或半球不对称性的解释，对照实验表明，当双手交叉做出反应时，反应侧与十字持续时间之间的兼容性效应在准确性方面出现（实验3），而当在一只手内做出反应时，在反应时间方面出现（实验4）。这种模式表明，流逝的时间与其他有序信息类似，在某些情况下是通过一个内部空间参照系来表征的，其方式可能会影响运动表现。最后，在实验5中，使用每个反应类别不同的值（即3个短持续时间和3个长持续时间）对时间持续时间进行参数变化。手与持续时间之间的兼容性效应得到了重复，但遵循持续时间的矩形函数。结合具体的任务要求对该函数的形状进行了讨论。
