Time and quantification in cognition, communication and cultural practice

Project Information

TINCULT

Grant agreement ID: 101018881

DOI

10.3030/101018881

Project closed

EC signature date 7 April 2021

Start date 1 September 2022

End date 3 October 2024

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 214 158,72

EU contribution

€ 214 158,72

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITETET I BERGEN
Norway

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TINCULT (Time and quantification in cognition, communication and cultural practice)

Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2024-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The TINCULT project explores the interplay of time and number in human cognition, focusing on how these concepts are culturally and linguistically framed in indigenous societies. Although fundamental to cognition, the expression of time and number varies greatly across cultures, and research has primarily focused on WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) populations, leaving a gap in understanding traditional societies. For the Huni Kuĩ, Kamaiurá, and Awetý of Brazil, time is not tracked with clocks or calendars, and their number systems involve fewer than 20 terms. TINCULT examines how these communities conceptualise time and number, challenging assumptions of universality in cognitive science.
Importance for Society
Preserving Endangered Cultures: TINCULT documents and revitalises endangered languages and cultural knowledge, helping maintain global diversity.
Challenging Cognitive Universality: Findings from non-WEIRD populations challenge cognitive science assumptions, enriching anthropology and linguistics.
Cultural and Educational Impact: Research results support bilingual education and cultural preservation efforts, contributing to inclusive education and intercultural understanding.
Broader Societal Relevance: Insights can enhance cross-cultural communication, supporting a nuanced view of time and number’s role across societies.
Overall Objectives
Advance Scientific Understanding: Deepen knowledge of cultural variability in time and number conceptualisation in traditional societies.
Document and Revitalize Languages: Contribute to the preservation of the Huni Kuĩ, Kamaiurá, and Awetý languages, including curriculum materials for indigenous schools.
Inform Cognitive Science Debates: Examine non-Western perspectives to challenge cognitive constructs like the mental number line and timeline.
Create Educational Resources: Develop materials for local schools, scientific publications, and public engagement activities. TINCULT has documented unique ways of conceptualising time and number, revealing the use of non-metric time systems and minimal number systems in daily life through language, gestures, and artefacts. The project contributes to endangered language revitalisation with educational materials, challenges universality assumptions in cognitive science, and will share findings with academic and public audiences through publications, podcasts, and workshops.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The TINCULT project engaged in research with the Huni Kuĩ, Kamaiurá, and Awetý communities in Brazil, using ethnographic, task, and multimodal communication methods to study the conceptions of time and number in these societies.
Initial Setup and Ethical Preparations:
Ethical protocols, consent forms, and information sheets were prepared and approved, ensuring responsible fieldwork.
Partnerships with local researchers and community leaders were established, with preparatory work at the University of Brasilia (UnB) and coordination to access field sites and organize workshops.
Fieldwork and Data Collection:
Fieldwork covered two of the three communities (with Kamaiurá participants accessed in the Awetý community), recording communicative episodes that reveal how time and numbers are expressed through speech, gestures, and artefacts.
Cognitive tasks were adapted to explore relationships between time, number, and space, including time interval judgments, event sequencing, and body-part counting.
Workshops in Awetý and Huni Kuĩ engaged locals in discussions about time and number while supporting language and cultural preservation.
Data Analysis and Processing:
Data were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative methods, with ELAN software tracking how time and numbers are represented through body parts and artefacts.
Analysis of non-linguistic tasks highlighted distinct ways these communities conceptualize time and number, diverging from Western metric systems.
Main Results Achieved So Far
The TINCULT project has advanced our understanding of time and number in traditional societies. Key findings include:
Unique Conceptualization of Time and Number: Time and number are embedded within cultural practices, with event-based intervals and minimal numeral systems. These findings suggest a non-Western approach to time that relies on natural cycles rather than fixed units, challenging assumptions about the need for complex numeral systems in advanced cognition.
Gesture and Artefact Use in Time Reckoning: Hands and feet and symbolic artefacts, such as string knots and corn, are central to time reckoning and quantification, highlighting that while linguistic time spatialization may vary, the non-linguistic body-based numeral system is widely utilized across these communities.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Key Expected Results

Comprehensive Documentation: TINCULT will finalize documentation of how time and number are conceptualized in the Huni Kuĩ, Kamaiurá, and Awetý communities, including analyses of bodied-based number words and artefact use in time reckoning.

Open-Access Publications: The project will publish articles on time, number, and space, emphasizing non-metric time reckoning and small number systems in cognition.

Educational Materials: TINCULT will develop materials for Indigenous schools, supporting language preservation and directly benefiting these communities.

Multimedia for Awareness: A project website and multimedia will highlight cultural diversity in cognition and the importance of preserving endangered languages.

Conferences and Workshops: Findings will be shared at international conferences, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration.

Potential Impacts

Empowerment of Indigenous Communities: TINCULT’s work in language and cultural documentation promotes social and educational empowerment, supporting language preservation and educational growth.

Educational and Policy Influence: Findings can guide educational policy, especially in Indigenous and multicultural education, promoting non-Western perspectives in learning.

Advancing Cognitive Science: New data on time-number-space relations will highlight cultural cognition variation, promoting more sensitive understandings of human thought.

Cultural Diversity Awareness: TINCULT stresses the importance of preserving traditional societies and endangered languages in an interconnected world.

Cross-Cultural Understanding: Insights into diverse views on time and number foster intercultural empathy and harmonious global relations.

Sustainability Insights: Traditional ecological knowledge supports sustainability, showing how modern societies might rethink time, nature, and resource management.

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