Cognitive Analysis of Imprecise Temporal Expressions

Objective

To see how people interpret vague descriptions of time in text. Examples of vague expressions are: "many days", "more than one hour", "about 2 months".

Instructions

All the following questions are fictional.
  • Each question shows a sentence comprising 2 to 3 descriptions of time that can be precise or imprecise.
  • The target descriptions of time to be evaluated will be underlined.
  • There are no right or wrong answers, or trick questions. Please work quickly and do not think too long about the exact meaning of the question.

*** All questions must be answered before submitting the form.

Questions
1. (T140) About the following sentence:
Tim last saw his doctor in January 2007. He had an operation on his knee several months later, and was back playing football again in the end of 2008.
What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in months) for the highlighted expression?
Something between and months.
2. (T069) About the following sentence:
The school holiday camping trip is in July this year. They are going to Dorset for a few weeks.
What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in weeks) for the highlighted expression?
Something between and weeks.
3. (T107) About the following sentence:
Kim's grades have been low for 2 or 3 months and it has taken months of hard work to raise her grades.
What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in months) for the highlighted expression?
Something between and months.
4. (T011) About the following sentence:
Joe has been married 3 times in the last 12 years. Each marriage has lasted less than 3 years. He plans to marry again in late September.
What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in months) for the highlighted expression?
Something between and months.
5. (T044) About the following sentence:
The cats gave birth in the first week of February, 2013. We left them to bond with their offspring for about 10 days.
What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in days) for the highlighted expression?
Something between and days.
6. (T112) About the following sentence:
Steven started revising three months ago and recently passed his first exam.
Which one do you consider the most appropriate option to express the amount of time since when the event associated with the underlined expression occurred?
7. (T052) About the following sentence:
Dr James returned from France two months ago, after spending about 1 week working in Kenya.
What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in days) for the highlighted expression?
Something between and days.
8. (T081) About the following sentence:
On the 15th of February Bill and Jan got married, though it was less than 7 months since they first met.
What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in months) for the highlighted expression?
Something between and months.
9. (T061) About the following sentence:
The new TV series began four months ago after many days of TV promotion.
What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in days) for the highlighted expression?
Something between and days.
10. (T135) About the following sentence:
Peter started his exams yesterday, approximately 12 years after the last time he was studying so naturally he was nervous for months before.
What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in years) for the highlighted expression?
Something between and years.
11. (T101) About the following sentence:
In 2001 we launched a new brand of tissues, more than 25 years after the last tissue brand was launched.
What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in years) for the highlighted expression?
Something between and years.
12. (T122) About the following sentence:
In 2008 we held a charity ball. We will hold one again in approximately 1 month. We hope it will be even better next year.
What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in days) for the highlighted expression?
Something between and days.
13. (T090) About the following sentence:
On 04/08/1996 Ravinda got married to Eddie, with celebrations lasting more than 5 days.
What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in days) for the highlighted expression?
Something between and days.
14. (T002) About the following sentence:
Mr Jones will move home on the 11th of December, and should be set up with broadband in less than 10 days, though the phone line will be installed weeks later.
What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in days) for the highlighted expression?
Something between and days.
15. (T098) About the following sentence:
The e-learning system has been installed for 10 months. Classroom training on it was available for more than 15 weeks.
What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in weeks) for the highlighted expression?
Something between and weeks.