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. (T142) About the following sentence: Tim became 28 years old on 01/01/2008, a few months before his older brother became 32 years old. They plan to have a joint celebration in February. What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in months) for the highlighted expression? Something between Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 and Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 more than 36 months.

2. (T038) About the following sentence: Judy became manager on 5th of March, last year. The move to her new office took days, but before 1 week she was ordering new furniture! What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in days) for the highlighted expression? Something between Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 and Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 more than 180 days.

3. (T059) About the following sentence: I'm going to the countryside next week where I've not been for about 7 years. What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in years) for the highlighted expression? Something between Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 and Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 more than 30 years.

4. (T147) About the following sentence: It has been one year since my last dental check-up. I have been dreading going for many weeks. I finally got courage and made the appointment today. What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in weeks) for the highlighted expression? Something between Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 and Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 more than 26 weeks.

5. (T076) About the following sentence: My son was born prematurely 17 years ago. He has had regular health check-ups for several years. What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in years) for the highlighted expression? Something between Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 and Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 more than 25 years.

6. (T085) About the following sentence: A new species of fish was discovered last month, less than 1 year after another species was declared extinct. What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in months) for the highlighted expression? Something between Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 and Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 months.

7. (T036) About the following sentence: The last building inspection took place in 2005, which means another inspection is now severely overdue. The admin department will arrange this next month. 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? Select one... [days] [weeks] [months] [years]

8. (T121) About the following sentence: The average temperature last week was 25. We checked the temperature for approximately 45 days. It is unlikely to be as hot next month. What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in days) for the highlighted expression? Something between Select one... less than 30 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 and Select one... 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 more than 60 days.

9. (T017) About the following sentence: Tim Robert's film was released on 18/07/2013. It will show in cinemas for more than 20 days, even though it will be replaced with another film next month. What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in days) for the highlighted expression? Something between Select one... 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 35 40 45 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 and Select one... 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 35 40 45 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 more than 90 days.

10. (T080) About the following sentence: I returned the car to the garage last week as it had been less than 2 months since being fixed. What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in days) for the highlighted expression? Something between Select one... 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 and Select one... 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 days.

11. (T020) About the following sentence: We launched our latest car engine on 08/03/2014. Our designers were working on the design for more than 8 months. In late March we will begin promoting and marketing the car. What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in months) for the highlighted expression? Something between Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 and Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 more than 24 months.

12. (T102) About the following sentence: In 2003 the bears at our zoo were given a new enclosure which comes more than 17 years after the last major change. What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in years) for the highlighted expression? Something between Select one... 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 and Select one... 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 more than 40 years.

13. (T130) About the following sentence: It has been 6 months since my last dental check. I am due for some further treatment roughly 15 weeks later. I will need to stay at home for 2 weeks to fully recover. What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in weeks) for the highlighted expression? Something between Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 and Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 more than 26 weeks.

14. (T041) About the following sentence: It has taken 6 months for the plant to grow tall. This is the best it has ever grown after spending years in the shade. It will most likely grow better next year. What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in years) for the highlighted expression? Something between Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 and Select one... 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 more than 30 years.

15. (T124) About the following sentence: We announced today our company's plans. The company will start selling computers in approximately 3 months. We will promote these on our website two weeks before. What do you consider the most appropriate period of time (in days) for the highlighted expression? Something between Select one... less than 60 60 65 70 75 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 105 110 115 120 and Select one... 60 65 70 75 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 105 110 115 120 more than 120 days.