Rafael Núñez and colleagues studied how members of the Yupno, an Indigenous group in Papua New Guinea, conceptualize time in both spoken language and gestures. The researchers recorded Yupno speakers explaining certain temporal words and phrases, such as omo-ropmo bilak, a past-oriented expression that translates to "a couple of years ago," and coded each speaker's manual gestures. Previous research has found a tendency in many cultures to make temporal distinctions along imagined linear axes: for instance, English speakers often refer to the front/back axis to describe events in time. Some researchers believe this tendency is universal, but Núñez and colleagues claim this is not the case.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support Núñez and colleagues' claim?
Explanation
Context: Rafael Núñez and colleagues studied how the Yupno people of Papua New Guinea use language and gesture to conceptualize time, including expressions like omo-ropmo bilak ("a couple of years ago"). Many cultures, including English speakers, map time onto a linear axis (for example, a front/back axis for past/future), and some researchers believe this tendency is universal. Núñez and colleagues claim it is not. The question asks which finding would most directly support their claim that the Yupno don't rely on this linear-axis model of time.
Answer: D) Future-oriented gestures used by Yupno speakers do not, on average, point in the opposite linear direction of past-oriented gestures.
Why? If Yupno past and future gestures don't align on a linear axis (pointing in opposite directions), this shows the Yupno don't use the supposedly universal linear-axis model for time — directly supporting the non-universality claim.
Traps:
- A) "Yupno speakers typically use their left hand for temporal gestures" → about handedness, not about linear axis use
- B) "some Yupno grammatical structures used when talking about time are also used in other languages" → suggests similarity, potentially supporting universality
- C) "Yupno speakers were observed making temporal gestures both indoors and outdoors" → about setting, completely irrelevant