A Comparative Study Of "Front-Back" Sagittal Time Representations By Native Chinese And Native English Speakers

This study examines the sagittal time representations of Chinese and English speakers,and compares their similarities and differences.Through two experiments,the study aims to work out whether there is a direct effect of temporal metaphors on their temporal thinking.There are three research questions:(1)How do Chinese speakers represent time along the sagittal front-back axis?(2)How do English speakers represent time along the sagittal front-back axis?(3)What are the similarities and differences in sagittal time representations between native Chinese and English speakers?The study conducted two psychological behavior experiments.Overall,90 participants,including 45 Chinese speakers and 45 English speakers,were recruited,and each participant was instructed in their native language.Experiment 1 is a temporal diagram task.Participants were evenly assigned to three different temporal word conditions that were contained in reading material.After reading the material,they were asked to put the two cards(written with words from the material)into two empty boxes that were put on the sagittal axis.Experiment 2 adopted temporal gestures.Each participant was asked 12 questions about time,and required to gesture directions to represent the time in the questions.The results showed that:(1)Chinese participants in Experiment 1 preferred"front-future/back-past" time representation in each condition.In Experiment 2,their sagittal gestures showed "front-future/back-past" time representation bias in each condition.Temporal metaphors did not significantly affect their choice of sagittal time representation.(2)English participants in Experiment 1 preferred"front-future/back-past" time representation.In Experiment 2,their sagittal gestures showed "front-future/back-past" time representation bias.Temporal metaphors did not significantly affect their choice of sagittal time representation.(3)Both Chinese and English speakers preferred "front-future/back-past" time representation,and the direct effect of sagittal temporal metaphors was denied in general.The difference is that English speakers overwhelmingly chose this pattern.The cultural variety could be seen.The study did not support previous studies that suggested the direct effect of temporal metaphors on people’s time representations.They do not immediately change their basic thinking of time.More importantly,the research showed that factors like culture may play a role in people’s time representations.