时空隐喻研究的新问题:时间表征的左右方向性

传统的时空隐喻研究主要通过启动范式来研究空间中的前后轴线和上下轴线与时间表征的关系;而近年来,研究者们通过综合运用排序法、判断法、比较法和线索范式,证明了个体会用左右轴线来表征时间.由于传统的理论无法很好地解释时间表征的左右方向性,研究者们倾向于用具身理论(embodiment theory)来解释这一现象.为了深化对空间轴线和时间表征之间的关系的认识,需要统一研究方法、整合不同理论并在神经机制层面上开展新的研究.     

演绎推理是基于规则还是模型?——来自空间推理的证据

对空间推理的研究有助于探明其加工机制以及验证心理逻辑理论和心理模型理论。行为研究通过考察多种影响空间推理的因素(如心理模型数量、前提的对象顺序等)证实了心理模型理论的预测。脑成像的研究表明,空间推理活动主要激活枕-顶-额脑区网络,顶区可能是推理的特异性脑区。研究的结果同样支持心理模型理论。未来的研究应该整合演绎推理的不同理论,加强对不同演绎推理任务的研究,并将脑成像技术与EEG或ERP结合起来,进一步探明人类空间推理的机制。     

反应模式对时间空间一致性效应的影响

通过3个实验探讨口头和按键反应对汉语被试时间空间一致性效应的影响。结果发现,在前后和上下方向,反应模式会影响时间空间一致性效应的方向,按键反应激活了过去/后/下,未来/前/上的一致性效应,口头反应激活了过去/前/上,未来/后/下的一致性效应;但是在左右方向,反应模式不会影响时间空间一致性效应的方向(过去/左,未来/右)。对3个方向的效应量的分析发现,左右方向的效应量最大,上下方向的效应量最小。时间和空间的关系受反应模式、语言习惯以及方向的影响,支持隐喻构念观理论。汉语被试对时间概念的表征综合了命题符号和知觉符号。     

虚构建筑——空间的内外与现实的场景

三维空间有上下、左右、前后三个维度,建筑的空间更多在讨论另一个更重要的维度:内外。文章从建筑空间最重要的维度内与外论述,阐明建筑的虚构性:建筑的内外是注释出来的;建筑的空间是一个社会文化体共同接受的一套虚构。建筑如同小说戏剧一样是虚构出来的,是现实生活的场景。这就提供了一个认识建筑的角度和设计建筑的方法。     

攀缘激活的计时机制

攀缘激活指神经元在两个先后出现事件的间隔阶段呈现出的一种缓慢爬升式“期待”激活。这种激活的强度在后一事件出现时达最高峰,以致被视为一种可能时距编码机制而成为目前时间生物学研究的一个热点问题。目前攀援激活的计时作用神经机制有三种主要观点：膜电流假说、双稳态单元假说、线性整合假说。未来研究将主要集中于探索攀缘激活的神经元突触机制,非固定间隔时距条件下攀缘激活的计时机制及攀缘激活、运动准备和脉冲累加之间的关系。     

时间隐喻研究述评

综述了近十多年来时间隐喻研究的现况,分析了时间隐喻表征的主要维度,结果表明大多数研究都认为时间隐喻的原型为空间-时间隐喻。从运动方式、方向和形状论述了空间－时间隐喻的构念特点,并讨论了空间-时间隐喻产生的心理机制以及关于空间、时间图式在隐喻映射中的相互关系的几种理论构想和实证研究。由于现有研究主要宏观地对时间隐喻进行了语义分析和跨文化研究,未来研究将更侧重于微观地研究时间隐喻的认知过程及其与人格间的相互影响     

上下意象图式向抽象概念映射的心理现实性研究

通过考察上下意象图式隐喻的映射机制和形成机制,验证其向抽象概念的映射具有心理现实性.实验一中,学龄期儿童阅读与图式一致材料反应时,较阅读与图式不一致材料反应时短,说明上下意象图式存在于概念水平,并在即时阅读中被激活.实验二中,学龄前幼儿表现出物品摆放的上下方位偏好差异,表明幼儿在概念形成过程中,抽象概念与空间上下方位存在体验性联结.研究证明:部分抽象概念表征具有上下方位线索,人们借助上下意象图式建构抽象概念.     

具身记忆及其内在机制

具身记忆研究主要探讨身体及其感觉运动过程在记忆中的作用。操纵或限制身体的物理状态、具身特征或可用性, 可以影响记忆的效率、效价和内容。其内在机制可以通过编码特异性原理、启动效应、隐喻表征理论和再激活假说进行解释, 但尚未形成统一的模型。基于现有研究与理论的共性, 提出具身记忆的感觉运动模拟模型, 强调重新激活在具身记忆中的作用, 以期在同一框架下说明身体作用于记忆的过程, 并进一步指出重新激活的条件。未来亟需在具身记忆的稳定性以及深层机制等方面进行多维度的基础和应用研究。     

舞动治疗：一种自下而上的精神分裂症干预探索

皮层-基底节-丘脑网络与脑岛网络属于感觉运动相关网络, 这两个网络的改变可能是导致精神分裂症的重要原因。目前主流研究与临床干预聚焦于患者的高级脑区异常, 对感觉运动系统的关注不足。对健康个体的研究发现舞蹈训练对感觉运动相关脑网络具有显著提升作用, 并自下而上地促进高级功能。以上研究提示舞蹈训练可能是干预精神分裂症、改善患者认知功能的新途径。本研究拟借助多模态磁共振成像技术, 以精神分裂症感觉运动相关网络为着力点, 通过分析精神分裂症患者在舞蹈训练前后的脑影像、临床症状及认知行为的改变, 揭示舞蹈训练临床干预的神经机制。     

汉语背景下左右走向的心理时间线

摘 要 通过两个实验探讨了汉语背景下是否存在左右走向的心理时间线。实验一,表示过去和未来的时间词作为刺激,呈现在屏幕的左侧或右侧,要求被试用两手按键对刺激进行过去意义词和未来意义词的分类。实验二,采用线索提示范式的变式,中央的时间词作为线索,完成左侧或右侧闪现的圆点的定位任务。结果发现：（1）对过去意义词用左手反应或呈现在左边反应更快,对未来意义词用右手反应或呈现在右边反应更快,存在空间时间反应编码联合效应（STEARC效应）。（2）未来意义词显著激活对右空间的注意,过去意义词存在激活左空间注意的倾向。表明时间存在左右走向的心理表征,过去表征到左边,未来表征到右边。     

A monolingual mind can have two time lines: Exploring space-time mappings in Mandarin monolinguals

Can a mind accommodate two time lines? Miles, Tan, Noble, Lumsden and Macrae (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 18, 598–604, 2011) shows that Mandarin-English bilinguals have both a horizontal space-time mapping consistent with linguistic conventions within English and a vertical representation of time commensurate with Mandarin. However, the present study, via two experiments, demonstrates that Mandarin monolinguals possess two mental time lines, i.e., one horizontal and one vertical line. This study concludes that a Mandarin speaker has two mental time lines not because he/she has acquired L2 English, but because there are both horizontal and vertical expressions in Mandarin spatiotemporal metaphors. Specifically, this study highlights the fact that a horizontal time line does exist in a Mandarin speaker’s cognition, even if he/she is a Mandarin monolingual instead of a ME bilingual. Taken together, the evidence in hand is far from sufficient to support Miles et al.’s (2011) conclusion that ME bilinguals’ horizontal concept of time is manipulated by English. Implications for theoretical issues concerning the language-thought relationship in general and the effect of bilingualism on cognition in particular are discussed.     

Eye movements during mental time travel follow a diagonal line

Recent research showed that past events are associated with the back and left side, whereas future events are associated with the front and right side of space. These spatial–temporal associations have an impact on our sensorimotor system: thinking about one’s past and future leads to subtle body sways in the sagittal dimension of space (Miles, Nind, & Macrae, 2010). In this study we investigated whether mental time travel leads to sensorimotor correlates in the horizontal dimension of space. Participants were asked to mentally displace themselves into the past or future while measuring their spontaneous eye movements on a blank screen. Eye gaze was directed more rightward and upward when thinking about the future than when thinking about the past. Our results provide further insight into the spatial nature of temporal thoughts, and show that not only body, but also eye movements follow a (diagonal) “time line” during mental time travel.     

Spatial congruency between stimulus presentation and response key arrangements in arithmetic fact retrieval

It is known that number and space representations are connected to one another in numerical and arithmetic abilities. Numbers are represented using the metaphor of a mental number line, oriented along horizontal and vertical space. This number line also seems to be linked to mental arithmetic, which is based partly on arithmetic fact retrieval. It seems that number representation and mental arithmetic are linked together. The present study tested the effect of spatial contextual congruency between stimulus presentation and response key arrangements in arithmetic fact retrieval, using number-matching and addition verification tasks. For both tasks in Experiment 1, a contextual congruency effect was present horizontally (i.e., horizontal presentation of stimuli and horizontal response key alignments) but not vertically (i.e., vertical presentation of stimuli but horizontal response key alignments). In Experiment 2, both tasks showed a contextual congruency effect for both spatial conditions. Experiment 1 showed that the interference and distance effects were found in the horizontal condition, probably because of the spatial congruency between stimulus presentation and response key arrangements. This spatial congruency could be related to the activation of the horizontal number line. Experiment 2 showed similar interference and distance effects for both spatial conditions, suggesting that the congruency between stimulus presentation and response alignment could facilitate the retrieval of arithmetic facts. This facilitation could be related to the activation of both horizontal and vertical number lines. The results are discussed in light of the possible role of a mental number line in arithmetic fact retrieval.     

Vertical representational biases in healthy university students

In line bisection tasks neurologically intact individuals tend to bisect lines slightly left of their midpoint for horizontal lines, and above centre for vertical lines, a phenomenon known as perceptual pseudoneglect (Bowers & Heilman, 1980; Van Vugt, Fransen, Creten, & Paquiner, 2000). Recent investigations have demonstrated the leftward bias to extend to mental imagery, a finding known as representational pseudoneglect (McGeorge, Beschin, Colnaghi, Rusconi, & Della Sala, 2007). This paper examined whether the upward bias found in perceptual tasks extended to mental imagery in healthy individuals. University students studied a diagram depicting a central character and target objects that were located in six positions relative to the person in the diagram (left/right, up/down, and front/back). Following learning, participants recalled the locations of the objects from several imagined orientations. Performance on the recall task revealed faster response latencies for upward targets, providing evidence for vertical representational biases in healthy individuals.     

Vertical representational biases in healthy university students

In line bisection tasks neurologically intact individuals tend to bisect lines slightly left of their midpoint for horizontal lines, and above centre for vertical lines, a phenomenon known as perceptual pseudoneglect (Bowers & Heilman, 1980; Van Vugt, Fransen, Creten, & Paquiner, 2000). Recent investigations have demonstrated the leftward bias to extend to mental imagery, a finding known as representational pseudoneglect (McGeorge, Beschin, Colnaghi, Rusconi, & Della Sala, 2007). This paper examined whether the upward bias found in perceptual tasks extended to mental imagery in healthy individuals. University students studied a diagram depicting a central character and target objects that were located in six positions relative to the person in the diagram (left/right, up/down, and front/back). Following learning, participants recalled the locations of the objects from several imagined orientations. Performance on the recall task revealed faster response latencies for upward targets, providing evidence for vertical representational biases in healthy individuals.     

Right up there: hemispatial and hand asymmetries of altitudinal pseudoneglect

Background

Pseudoneglect is a normal left sided spatial bias observed with attempted bisections of horizontal lines and a normal upward bias observed with attempted bisections of vertical lines. Horizontal pseudoneglect has been attributed to right hemispheric dominance for the allocation of attention. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that the upward bias in vertical line bisection may also relate to right hemispheric dominance for the allocation of attention and/or action-intention.

Methods

Twenty right handed healthy adults were asked to bisect vertical lines presented in the midsagittal plane (center space) and in sagittal planes to the left and right of the midsagittal plane (left and right hemispace) when using a pen held in either the right or left hand.

Results

Vertical line bisections were biased upward in all three sagittal planes and higher in left than right hemispace. However, bisections made with the left hand were lower than those made with the right hand.

Discussion

Whereas these results suggest a left hemispace-right hemispheric visuospatial attentional upward bias and a relative left hemispheric-right hand upward action-intentional bias, further studies are needed to document this intentional versus attentional bias and to understand the brain mechanisms that produce these biases.     

Left of centre: asymmetries for the horizontal vertical line illusion

This study explored the mechanisms that underlie asymmetries for the horizontal vertical illusion (HVI), which deceives length perception, so that a vertical line is perceived as longer than a horizontal line of equivalent length. In Experiment 1, university students (n = 14) made length judgements for vertical and horizontal lines. The vertical line was shifted in eight steps from the far left of the horizontal line (⌊) to the far right (⌋). An HVI was observed for the medial positions (⊥), which diminished towards the lateral positions. The HVI was also stronger when the vertical line was on the left. Because the left/right asymmetry changed as a function of lateral/medial position, the asymmetry within the HVI stimulus is most likely the result of pseudoneglect, which affects judgements of horizontal length. In Experiment 2, participants (n = 15) made judgements for HVI stimuli presented to the left- and right-hemispace and the midline. The HVI was stronger in the left hemispace. Because the asymmetry between the left- and right-hemispaces did not interact with the asymmetry within the stimuli, it was concluded that the asymmetry between hemispatial positions was the result of right hemisphere susceptibility to illusory geometrical effects whereas the asymmetry within the stimulus is related to an object-centred attentional asymmetry. The HVI is affected by asymmetries in length judgements and susceptibility to illusions and may provide interesting insights into attentional disorders in clinical populations, such as neglect.     

Orienting numbers in mental space: Horizontal organization trumps vertical

While research on the spatial representation of number has provided substantial evidence for a horizontally oriented mental number line, recent studies suggest vertical organization as well. Directly comparing the relative strength of horizontal and vertical organization, however, we found no evidence of spontaneous vertical orientation (upward or downward), and horizontal trumped vertical when pitted against each other (Experiment 1). Only when numbers were conceptualized as magnitudes (as opposed to nonmagnitude ordinal sequences) did reliable vertical organization emerge, with upward orientation preferred (Experiment 2). Altogether, these findings suggest that horizontal representations predominate, and that vertical representations, when elicited, may be relatively inflexible. Implications for spatial organization beyond number, and its ontogenetic basis, are discussed.     

Orienting numbers in mental space: horizontal organization trumps vertical

While research on the spatial representation of number has provided substantial evidence for a horizontally oriented mental number line, recent studies suggest vertical organization as well. Directly comparing the relative strength of horizontal and vertical organization, however, we found no evidence of spontaneous vertical orientation (upward or downward), and horizontal trumped vertical when pitted against each other (Experiment 1). Only when numbers were conceptualized as magnitudes (as opposed to nonmagnitude ordinal sequences) did reliable vertical organization emerge, with upward orientation preferred (Experiment 2). Altogether, these findings suggest that horizontal representations predominate, and that vertical representations, when elicited, may be relatively inflexible. Implications for spatial organization beyond number, and its ontogenetic basis, are discussed.