A pilot study of how the past, present, and future are represented in three-dimensional space

Abstract

Numerous studies have shown that the representation of temporal concepts is associated with spatial features such as position and size. In a conventional task called the “Circle Test (CT),” participants are asked to express the relative importance of the past, present, and future and to demonstrate relationships among them by drawing three circles representing the past, present, and future. Studies on various participants, including refugees, patients living with serious illnesses, and adolescents, have used it to understand the temporal perspectives of different test takers. On the other hand, several studies have suggested that concepts of time are represented in three-dimensional (3D) space. It is expected that temporal concepts of the past, present, and future could be recorded using a 3D drawing task. Here we created a 3D version of CT (the “Sphere Test [ST]”) to investigate the sagittal representation of time and to record the relative time importance and relatedness, allowing for the shielding relationships and the laws of perspective. We conducted experiments with university students to compare the results from the CT and the ST. Our results suggested that not all on-screen overlapping can be interpreted as representing a connection between two time zones in 3D space. We also found correlations between the chosen sizes of the three circles in the CT and ST, i.e., the on-screen sizes of the past and present circles were positively correlated. In contrast, we observed no correlation between the on-screen sizes of the future circles in the two tests. The alignment pattern along the sagittal axis showed different patterns from the horizontal and vertical axes. In conclusion, this study sheds new light on the third dimension of the spatial representation of time and may help us understand the relationship between temporal perspectives and other factors, including mental health.

Philosophy of future: analytical overview of interaction between education, science, and artificial intelligence in the context of contemporary challenges

“…Consequently, there is often a logical relationship between education, science and AI, shaping the idea of "present future" (Placek, 2021). Nowadays the "present future" recognizes the creative potential of the present moment considering the expected trajectory of the future (Placek, 2021;Yabe & Yamada, 2023). At the same time, when a wide range of opportunities and challenges related to education, science, and AI in the present are embraced, it is possible to foster innovation and progress in the society.…”