Hartmann, Matthias; Martarelli, Corinna S.; Mast, Fred W.; Stocker, Kurt (2014). Eye movements during mental time travel follow a diagonal line. Consciousness and cognition, 30(Nov.), pp. 201-209. Elsevier 10.1016/j.concog.2014.09.007
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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.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
|---|---|
Division/Institute: |
07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology > Cognitive Psychology, Perception and Methodology |
UniBE Contributor: |
Maalouli-Hartmann, Matthias, Martarelli, Corinna, Mast, Fred |
Subjects: |
100 Philosophy > 150 Psychology |
ISSN: |
1053-8100 |
Publisher: |
Elsevier |
Funders: |
[4] Swiss National Science Foundation |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Matthias Maalouli-Hartmann |
Date Deposited: |
05 Mar 2015 13:32 |
Last Modified: |
02 Mar 2023 23:25 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1016/j.concog.2014.09.007 |
PubMed ID: |
25307523 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Mental time travel, Eye movements, Mental time line, Spatial–temporal association, Future, Past, Embodied cognition, Metaphors, Mental number line |
BORIS DOI: |
10.7892/boris.64043 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/64043 |
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