Language Development and Language–Thought Relationships (6B) Practice Test

In a cross-cultural study, adults from Language X routinely use absolute spatial terms (e.g., north/south/east/west) in everyday conversation (“move the cup to the west of the plate”), while adults from Language Y primarily use relative terms (left/right) (“move the cup to the left of the plate”). Participants are tested indoors without visible landmarks and asked to reproduce an array of objects after being rotated 180°. The investigator cites the Sapir–Whorf (linguistic relativity) hypothesis to motivate predictions about spatial memory. Which result would be expected according to Sapir–Whorf?

A neuroimaging study recruits adults who are fluent in two languages that differ in how they encode time. Language T tends to describe time using vertical metaphors ("the meeting is above us" for a future event), whereas Language H uses horizontal metaphors ("the meeting is ahead of us"). During fMRI, participants judge whether pictures depict earlier vs later events while being cued in either Language T or Language H. The authors cite the Sapir–Whorf (linguistic relativity) hypothesis to interpret language-dependent differences in temporal reasoning. Which pattern best fits Sapir–Whorf in this design?