The effect of scene structure on time perception

The current experiments examined the hypothesis that scene structure affects time perception. In three experiments, participants judged the duration of realistic scenes that were presented in a normal or jumbled (i.e., incoherent) format. Experiment 1 demonstrated that the subjective duration of normal scenes was greater than subjective duration of jumbled scenes. In Experiment 2, gridlines were added to both normal and jumbled scenes to control for the number of line terminators, and scene structure had no effect. In Experiment 3, participants performed a secondary task that required paying attention to scene structure, and scene structure's effect on duration judgements reemerged. These findings are consistent with the idea that perceived duration can depend on visual–cognitive processing, which in turn depends on both the nature of the stimulus and the goals of the observer.     

The influence of temporal regularities on the implicit learning of pitch structures

Implicit learning is the acquisition of complex information without the intention to learn. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of temporal regularities on the implicit learning of an artificial pitch grammar. According to the dynamic attending theory (DAT) external regularities can entrain internal oscillators that guide attention over time, inducing temporal expectations that influence perception of future events. In the present study, the presentation of the artificial pitch grammar in the exposure phase was temporally either regular or irregular for one of two participant groups. Based on the DAT, it was hypothesized that the regular temporal presentation would favour implicit learning of tone structures in comparison to the irregular temporal presentation. Results demonstrated learning of the artificial grammar for the group with the regular exposure phase and partial learning for the group with the irregular exposure phase. These findings suggest that the regular presentation helps listeners to develop perceptual expectations about the temporal occurrence of future tones and thus facilitates the learning of the artificial pitch grammar.     

Methodological and empirical developments for the Ratcliff diffusion model of response times and accuracy

Summerfield, Egner, Mangels, and Hirsch (2006) suggested that visual misperception may be triggered by strong yet wrong expectation when sensory data are insufficient. Bar (2003) posits that immediately after stimulus presentation, low frequency spatial information (LFSI) convey the global form of the image which is matched to stored representations in the orbitofrontal cortex to generate predictions of the input. We used signal detection to test whether a strong prediction induced by informative global form, hence reducing the number of possible input matches, would facilitate recognition, but at the price of increasing the rate of misperceptions. Twenty-five participants were presented with target and foil images that shared global form, but differed in details. Pictures with informative global form resulted in higher confidence in recognition and shorter reaction times, but increased false alarms. Predictions of sensory input based on low frequency spatial information allow quick, facilitated recognition. However, the price for speed is the increased rate of misperceptions.     

Effects of changes in narrative time on eye movements and recognition responses

Abstract

Gibbs and O'Brien (1990) recently claimed that the images that people associate with everyday idioms reflect the deep conceptual metaphors that underlie the meanings of those idioms. However, because idiomatic strings can convey both a literal and an idiomatic meaning, people must be able to inhibit or ignore literal meanings if they are to produce mental images that uniquely reflect idiomatic meanings. We investigated the potential interference between literal and idiomatic meanings in three experiments. Experiment 1 used a mental-image production task similar to that used by Gibbs and O'Brien. Counter to Gibbs and O'Brien's claim, the images that we obtained referred overwhelmingly to the literal meanings of idiomatic strings rather than to their idiomatic meanings. Experiments 2 and 3 employed a paraphrase verification task to examine the effects of mental imagery on idiom comprehension. If the images associated with an idiom reflect that idiom's meaning, then imagery should facilitate comprehension. No evidence for facilitation was found in either experiment. Instead, imagery interfered with comprehension, as assessed by paraphrase verification time, both for idiomatic meanings and for literal, concrete meanings. We conclude that the images associated with idioms do not reflect idiom meanings.     

Context effects and selective response lengthening in a temporal serial reproduction task

Repeatedly performing a temporal reproduction task has been reported to increase reproduced durations. We report the novel finding that the second reproduction in a series is selectively enhanced relative to the first. This was true regardless of whether the responses were discrete (separate start and stop responses) or contiguous (stop response is the start of the next response). In a final experiment we test the hypothesis that the second reproduction is more influenced by the central tendency of previously experienced durations than is the first. These results are discussed in terms of two sources of performance uncertainty: temporal remoteness of the second and subsequent reproductions from the standard and trial-by-trial unpredictability of the standard in random but not blocked designs.     

Timing in cognition and EEG brain dynamics: discreteness versus continuity

This article provides an overview of recent developments in solving the timing problem (discreteness vs. continuity) in cognitive neuroscience. Both theoretical and empirical studies have been considered, with an emphasis on the framework of operational architectonics (OA) of brain functioning (Fingelkurts and Fingelkurts in Brain Mind 2:291-29, 2001; Neurosci Biobehav Rev 28:827-836, 2005). This framework explores the temporal structure of information flow and interarea interactions within the network of functional neuronal populations by examining topographic sharp transition processes in the scalp EEG, on the millisecond scale. We conclude, based on the OA framework, that brain functioning is best conceptualized in terms of continuity-discreteness unity which is also the characteristic property of cognition. At the end we emphasize where one might productively proceed for the future research.     

Time flies when you're having fun: temporal estimation and the experience of boredom

Boredom is a common experience in healthy individuals and may be elevated in various neurological or psychiatric conditions. As yet, very little is known about the cognitive or neural bases of the subjective experience of boredom. We examined temporal perception and the temporal allocation of attention in healthy individuals reporting high- or low-levels of boredom. We found no difference in high- or low-boredom-prone individuals in the temporal allocation of attention, while individuals who experienced low-levels of boredom tended to underestimate time more so than high-boredom-prone individuals. Furthermore, high-boredom-prone individuals demonstrated higher error values when estimating time indicating that the subjective perception of the passage of time may be a critical component to the experience of boredom.