Time is an abstract concept that is better understood when it is mapped onto space. One mechanism to accomplishthis mapping is a reference frame. Previous research has shown the orientation and direction parameters of a spatial referenceframe are involved in understanding time. For example, for English speakers, time is organized horizontally and runs from left(past) to right (future). The current experiments focus on the scale parameter. Experiment 1 changes temporal scale across trials,and illustrates that the scale parameter is set, as evidenced by a cost when the parameter value changes. Experiment 2 examinesthe correspondence between the spatial scale and the temporal scale, requiring participants to map small or large temporaldistances to small or large spatial distances. The results illustrate flexibility in this mapping. Together these experimentssupport the idea that all the parameters of a spatial reference frame are used when understanding time.

Landmarks can be helpful guides when completing spatial tasks, such as giving directions. Past research has shown that the salience of landmarks can influence their use, with salience based on perceptual features, or on the spatial relation between the landmark and a target location. In two experiments, students were asked to give directions to locations on campus to other students, alumni, or visitors. In Experiment 1, speakers’ ratings of the imaginability and frequency of use for 20 buildings along the directed paths impacted whether they were included in their directions to other students. In Experiment 2, these features did not impact speakers’ directions to alumni or visitors, suggesting a different prioritization of salience. These results suggest that the experience of the speakers and the identity of the receivers play a role in which landmarks speakers choose to include in their directions.

Along with using geometric information to define spatial terms such as “in”, Coventry and Garrod (2004) have proposed the use of dynamic-kinematic (DK) routines which relate to how two objects interact (kinematic) over time (dynamic). For the spatial description, “The penny is in the bowl,” the penny is contained by a bounding box around the bowl as well as the DK location-control routine that if the bowl moves, so will the penny. In two experiments a speeded prime/ probe picturesentence verification task was used to gather evidence for the existence of DK routines. The first experiment found evidence for priming location-control for the preposition “in”. The second experiment examined location-control routines for both “in” and “on” using the same prepositions for both location-control and embedded spatial relationships. A significant response time benefit for priming location-control routines was found. These experiments provided evidence for priming location-control routines independent of semantic priming.