Cognitive abilities required in time judgment depending on the temporal tasks used: A comparison of children and adults

The aim of this study was to examine age-related differences in time judgments during childhood as a function of the temporal task used. Children aged 5 and 8 years, as well as adults, were submitted to 3 temporal tasks (bisection, generalization and reproduction) with short (0.4/0.8?s) and long durations (8/16?s). Furthermore, their cognitive capacities in terms of working memory, attentional control, and processing speed were assessed by a wide battery of neuropsychological tests. The results showed that the age-related differences in time judgment were greater in the reproduction task than in the temporal discrimination tasks. This task was indeed more demanding in terms of working memory and information processing speed. In addition, the bisection task appeared to be easier for children than the generalization task, whereas these 2 tasks were similar for the adults, although the generalization task required more attention to be paid to the processing of durations. Our study thus demonstrates that it is important to understand the different cognitive processes involved in time judgment as a function of the temporal tasks used before venturing to draw conclusions about the development of time perception capabilities.     

Prospective duration judgments: The role of temporality and executive demands of concurrent tasks

It is known that concurrent non-temporal tasks shorten reproduced temporal durations in prospective duration judgments. Two experiments were carried out, one comparing a concurrent temporal task to a minimally demanding concurrent task (Experiment 1) and one comparing an executive concurrent (Simon) task with a less demanding non-executive concurrent task (Experiment 2). An effect of the concurrent task type on temporal reproductions was found. Furthermore, a duration length effect was found, where longer durations were underestimated more than shorter durations. This effect tended to be stronger for the experiments that included a concurrent task that demanded high attention.     

Garner interference and temporal information processing

The aim of the study was to explore whether temporal information processing can interfere with performance of a non-temporal task. A new methodology based on the Garner paradigm was employed. Participants were asked to classify two-dimensional stimuli according to either length or duration, with and without variation in the other (task-irrelevant) dimension. Garner interference was detected only with respect to classification by length when irrelevant variation in duration was present. Stroop interference was detected only in classification by length across compatible and non-compatible values of length and duration. Classification by length took more time when done with variation in duration than when duration was constant. Classification by length also took more time when length and duration were not compatible than when they were compatible. The findings indicate that the processing of duration is similar to the processing of other perceptual dimensions. The processing of duration consumes attentional resources and can interfere with the processing of other perceptual dimensions. The findings support attentional models of prospective duration judgment.     

Age-related changes in duration reproduction: involvement of working memory processes

The aim of the present research was to study age-related changes in duration reproduction by differentiating the working memory processes underlying this time estimation task. We compared performances of young and elderly adults in a duration reproduction task performed in simple and concurrent task conditions. Participants were also administered working memory tests to measure storage and central executive functions. Findings indicated a differential involvement of working memory storage and central executive functions in age-related differences in temporal tasks. The limited storage capacities explained age-related changes in the simple task of duration reproduction, and the dysfunctioning of central executive functions accounted for age-related changes in duration reproduction performed in a concurrent task condition, which involves greater attentional resources.     

Sense of Time and Executive Functioning in Children and Adults

A number of patient studies suggest that impairments in frontal lobe functions are associated with disorders in temporal information processing. One implication of these findings is that subjective experience of time should be related to executive functions regardless of etiology. In two experiments, we examined sense of time in relation to components of executive functioning in healthy children and adults. In Experiment 1, children between 8 to 12 years completed six experimental tasks that tapped three components of executive functioning: inhibition, updating, and mental shifting. Sense of time was examined in a duration judgment task in which participants reproduced stimulus durations between 4 to 32 s. In Experiment 2, adult participants completed the time reproduction task under varying concurrent task demands. Both experiments showed selective effects in that time reproduction errors were related to the inhibition and updating, but not to the shifting, components of executive functioning. However, the observed effects were modulated by task demands and age-related differences in cognitive competence. We conclude that individual differences in executive functioning are only weakly related to time reproduction performance in healthy children and adults.     

客体工作记忆的保持对时距知觉的影响

初步探讨毫秒范围内,客体信息保持对时间知觉的影响。实验一发现,知觉到的时间不受记忆负荷的影响,但当保持时间短时,低负荷的反应时低于高负荷的反应时;实验二仅要求被试完成时间知觉任务,发现知觉负荷异于记忆负荷对时间知觉的影响。结果说明,客体工作记忆保持对时间知觉的影响受到工作记忆资源的调节。     

Temporal order in memory and interval timing: an interference analysis

The effect of varying load in memory tasks performed during a time interval production was examined. In a first experiment, increasing load in memory search for temporal order affected concurrent time production more strongly than varying load in a spatial memory task of equivalent difficulty. This result suggests that timing uses some specific resources also required in processing temporal order in memory, resources that would not be used in the spatial memory task. A second experiment showed that the interference between time production and memory search involving temporal order was stronger when, during the timing task, a decision was made on the temporal position of a memory item, than when information on temporal order was retained throughout the interval to be produced. These results underscore the importance of considering the specific resources and processes involved when the interference between timing and concurrent non-temporal tasks is analyzed.     

Processing demand modulates the effects of spatial attention on the judged duration of a brief stimulus.

How does attention influence the judged duration of a brief stimulus? In the four experiments reported here, we show that the effect of spatial attention on duration judgment depends on the processing demand of the concurrent nontemporal task. When participants had to perform a speeded letter discrimination task in addition to duration rating, the judged duration was longer at a cued location than at an uncued location, regardless of whether the cue was exogenous or endogenous. However, when the same stimuli were presented but no concurrent nontemporal task was required, duration was judged to be shorter at the cued location, as compared with the uncued locations. Furthermore, although spatial attention influenced duration judgment, no object-based attentional effects were found. These findings suggest that, although spatial attention plays an important role in the judged duration of a briefly presented stimulus, its effect is mediated by the processing demand of the task.     

Processing demand modulates the effects of spatial attention on the judged duration of a brief stimulus

How does attention influence the judged duration of a brief stimulus? In the four experiments reported here, we show that the effect of spatial attention on duration judgment depends on the processing demand of the concurrent nontemporal task. When participants had to perform a speeded letter discrimination task in addition to duration rating, the judged duration was longer at a cued location than at an uncued location, regardless of whether the cue was exogenous or endogenous. However, when the same stimuli were presented but no concurrent nontemporal task was required, duration was judged to be shorter at the cued location, as compared with the uncued locations. Furthermore, although spatial attention influenced duration judgment, no object-based attentional effects were found. These findings suggest that, although spatial attention plays an important role in the judged duration of a briefly presented stimulus, its effect is mediated by the processing demand of the task.     

Auditory and visual differences in time perception? An investigation from a developmental perspective with neuropsychological tests

Adults and children (5- and 8-year-olds) performed a temporal bisection task with either auditory or visual signals and either a short (0.5-1.0s) or long (4.0-8.0s) duration range. Their working memory and attentional capacities were assessed by a series of neuropsychological tests administered in both the auditory and visual modalities. Results showed an age-related improvement in the ability to discriminate time regardless of the sensory modality and duration. However, this improvement was seen to occur more quickly for auditory signals than for visual signals and for short durations rather than for long durations. The younger children exhibited the poorest ability to discriminate time for long durations presented in the visual modality. Statistical analyses of the neuropsychological scores revealed that an increase in working memory and attentional capacities in the visuospatial modality was the best predictor of age-related changes in temporal bisection performance for both visual and auditory stimuli. In addition, the poorer time sensitivity for visual stimuli than for auditory stimuli, especially in the younger children, was explained by the fact that the temporal processing of visual stimuli requires more executive attention than that of auditory stimuli.     

Elaborative rehearsal of nontemporal information interferes with temporal processing of durations in the range of seconds but not milliseconds

The distinct timing hypothesis suggests a sensory mechanism for processing of durations in the range of milliseconds and a cognitively controlled mechanism for processing of longer durations. To test this hypothesis, we employed a dual-task approach to investigate the effects of maintenance and elaborative rehearsal on temporal processing of brief and long durations. Unlike mere maintenance rehearsal, elaborative rehearsal as a secondary task involved transfer of information from working to long-term memory and elaboration of information to enhance storage in long-term memory. Duration discrimination of brief intervals was not affected by a secondary cognitive task that required either maintenance or elaborative rehearsal. Concurrent elaborative rehearsal, however, impaired discrimination of longer durations as compared to maintenance rehearsal and a control condition with no secondary task. These findings endorse the distinct timing hypothesis and are in line with the notion that executive functions, such as continuous memory updating and active transfer of information into long-term memory interfere with temporal processing of durations in the second, but not in the millisecond range.     

时距估计年龄差异的认知机制

采用双任务的实验范式,通过对（5s、13s和26s）三个目标时距的产生法和复制法的结果来探讨时距估计年龄差异的认知机制。实验结果表明,在不同目标时距和不同的估计方法上均存在显著的年龄效应。年老被试在产生法上比年轻被试显著高估时距,存在非时间任务和年龄的交互作用,随着任务难度的增加年老被试会比年轻被试产生更长的时距。而在复制法上年老被试比年轻被试显著低估时距,但是只有在长时距条件下（26s）存在非时间任务和年龄的交互作用。本研究结果表明年老被试在产生法上对时距的高估可能与内部时钟减慢和注意资源减少有关,而在复制法上对时距的低估可能反映注意资源的减少。此外,对于长时距的时间复制,情节记忆的损伤也是导致时距估计年龄差异的一个可能原因。     

Interference from short-term memory processing on encoding and reproducing brief durations

A temporal reproduction task is composed of two temporal estimation phases: encoding of the interval to be reproduced, followed by its reproduction. The effect of short-term memory processing on each of these phases was tested in two experiments. In Exp. 1, a memory set was presented, followed by two successive tones bounding the target interval to be reproduced. During the reproduction of the target interval, a probe was presented, and the subject ended the reproduction by pressing one of two keys, depending on the presence or absence of the probe in the memory set. In Exp. 2, probe recognition was required during the encoding of the interval to be reproduced. Whereas in Exp. 1 reproductions lengthened as a function of memory-set size, in Exp. 2 temporal reproductions decreased with set size. These results support attentional models of time estimation and suggest that short-term memory processing interrupts concurrent accumulation of temporal information. Received: 11 September 1997 / Accepted: 2 March 1998     

How do changes in speed affect the perception of duration?

Six experiments investigated how changes in stimulus speed influence subjective duration. Participants saw rotating or translating shapes in three conditions: constant speed, accelerating motion, and decelerating motion. The distance moved and average speed were the same in all three conditions. In temporal judgment tasks, the constant-speed objects seemed to last longer than the decelerating objects, which in turn seemed to last longer than the accelerating stimuli. In temporal reproduction tasks, the difference between accelerating and decelerating stimuli disappeared; furthermore, watching an accelerating shape lengthened the apparent duration of the subsequent (static) display. These results (a) suggest that temporal judgment and reproduction can dissociate for moving stimuli because the stimulus influences the apparent duration of the subsequent interval, and (b) constrain theories of time perception, including those which emphasize memory storage, those which emphasize the existence of a pacemaker-accumulator timing system, and those which emphasize the division of attention between temporal and non-temporal information processing.     

Time perception with and without a concurrent nontemporal task

Prospective time estimates were obtained from human subjects for stimulus durations ranging from 2 to 23 sec. Presence and absence of a concurrent nontemporal task was manipulated within subjects in three experiments. In addition, location of the task within temporal reproduction trials and psychophysical method were varied between groups in Experiments 2 and 3, respectively. For long-duration stimuli, the results of all three experiments conformed to results in the literature, showing a decrease in perceived duration under concurrent task conditions, in accord with attentional resource allocation models of timing. The effects of task location and psychophysical method on time estimates were also compatible with this analysis. However, psychophysical functions obtained under task conditions were fit well by power functions, an outcome that would not be anticipated on the basis of attention theory. The slopes of the functions under no-task conditions were steeper than those under task conditions. The data support the perceptual hypothesis that different sources of sensory input mediate timing under task and no-task conditions.     

Short-term Memory in Time Interval Production

This article summarizes results from several studies on the effect of nontemporal processing on concurrent time estimation. These studies use an experimental paradigm that was developed to interpolate various nontemporal tasks in time interval production. Produced intervals were specifically lengthened by increasing the amount of short-term memory processing performed in a concurrent search task. The interference was shown with many short-term memory tasks, using various durations and methods in the temporal task. The effect on temporal production seems to be positively related to the level of difficulty of the short-term memory task. Finally, processing item or order information affects simultaneous time production, whereas its maintenance has no effect. An interference analysis of these phenomena suggests that interruption in time estimation is caused by both temporal and nontemporal tasks simultaneously requiring processing in short-term memory.     

Decision processes in temporal discrimination

The processing dynamics underlying temporal decisions and the response times they generate have received little attention in the study of interval timing. In contrast, models of other simple forms of decision making have been extensively investigated using response times, leading to a substantial disconnect between temporal and non-temporal decision theories. An overarching decision-theoretic framework that encompasses existing, non-temporal decision models may, however, account both for interval timing itself and for time-based decision-making. We sought evidence for this framework in the temporal discrimination performance of humans tested on the temporal bisection task. In this task, participants retrospectively categorized experienced stimulus durations as short or long based on their perceived similarity to two, remembered reference durations and were rewarded only for correct categorization of these references. Our analysis of choice proportions and response times suggests that a two-stage, sequential diffusion process, parameterized to maximize earned rewards, can account for salient patterns of bisection performance. The first diffusion stage times intervals by accumulating an endogenously noisy clock signal; the second stage makes decisions about the first-stage temporal representation by accumulating first-stage evidence corrupted by endogenous noise. Reward-maximization requires that the second-stage accumulation rate and starting point be based on the state of the first-stage timer at the end of the stimulus duration, and that estimates of non-decision-related delays should decrease as a function of stimulus duration. Results are in accord with these predictions and thus support an extension of the drift–diffusion model of static decision making to the domain of interval timing and temporal decisions.     

数字加工任务影响时距知觉的数字效应

本研究采用复制时距和数字加工双任务,探讨数字大小影响时距知觉的机制。实验首先呈现不同时距的圆点,然后让被试按键复制圆点呈现的时距,与此同时,对屏幕上出现的数字进行命名(实验1)、奇偶数判断(实验2)、大小判断(实验3)。实验结果发现对数字进行奇偶数判断时,数字大小对时距知觉没有影响;进行数字命名和大小判断任务时,数字大小对时距知觉都产生了影响,并且时距不同,数字大小对时距知觉的影响也不同。该结果表明时距知觉的数字效应与数字加工任务和时距长短有关,呈现出动态变化的过程。     

Duration judgments in children with ADHD suggest deficient utilization of temporal information rather than general impairment in timing.

Clinicians, parents, and teachers alike have noted that individuals with ADHD often have difficulties with "time management," which has led some to suggest a primary deficit in time perception in ADHD. Previous studies have implicated the basal ganglia, cerebellum, and frontal lobes in time estimation and production, with each region purported to make different contributions to the processing and utilization of temporal information. Given the observed involvement of the frontal-subcortical networks in ADHD, we examined judgment of durations in children with ADHD (N = 27) and age- and gender-matched control subjects (N = 15). Two judgment tasks were administered: short duration (550 ms) and long duration (4 s). The two groups did not differ significantly in their judgments of short interval durations; however, subjects with ADHD performed more poorly when making judgments involving long intervals. The groups also did not differ on a judgment-of-pitch task, ruling out a generalized deficit in auditory discrimination. Selective impairment in making judgments involving long intervals is consistent with performance by patients with frontal lobe lesions and suggests that there is a deficiency in the utilization of temporal information in ADHD (possibly secondary to deficits in working memory and/or strategy utilization), rather than a problem involving a central timing mechanism.     

Time perception in severe traumatic brain injury patients: A study comparing different methodologies

In this study, we investigated time perception in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Fifteen TBI patients and 15 matched healthy controls participated in the study. Participants were tested with durations above and below 1 s on three different temporal tasks that involved time reproduction, production, and discrimination tasks. Data variables analyzed included amount of errors, relative errors, and coefficient of variation. Both groups completed a neuropsychological battery that included measures of attention, working memory, and executive functions. Results revealed significant differences between groups on the time reproduction and discrimination tasks, whereas groups showed similar performance on the time production task. Correlation analyses showed involvement of attention, working memory and executive functions on the time reproduction and time discrimination tasks, but there was no involvement on the time production task. These findings suggest that TBI does not impact specific temporal function. Rather, impairments in attention, working memory and executive function abilities may explain lower temporal performance in people with TBI.